Premier league rivals Manchester United looks to have taken pole position ahead of Chelsea in the race to sign AS Monaco defender Benoît Badiashile, a report from Le 10 Sport claims.
Monaco defender Badiashile's strong defensive performances looks to have caught the eye of Premier League giants Chelsea who are said to be interested in a move.
Badiashile made his debut for Monaco as a 17-year-old in 2018 and over the past two years, he has managed 46 appearances across all competitions.
Due to his solid and strong performances, Bayer Leverkusen have also enquired about the player's availability, but it is reported that United have entered the race to get the defender's signature.
According to Le 10 Sport, Monaco are aiming to recoup funds for their summer spending and Badiashile could be sold despite the fact that he is highly-rated by manager Niko Kovac.
Chelsea are said to be offering an initial £27m(€30m) which United are ready to rival to beat The Blues to acquire his services in Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer utilised Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire as the regular central defensive pair last term and only 36 goals were conceded from the 38 league games.
Chelsea's poor defence cost the Blues key matches where they should have won, and will be keen to see off competition from United and Leverkusen in the pursuit of Badiashile.
Chelsea have already completed the signings of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, but have lost star attacker Willian to Arsenal already in what looks to be a busy transfer window for the Blues.
The main problem Lampard hopes to solve will be his leaky defence and are already close to completing the signing of Leicester city star Ben Chilwell with West ham's Declan Rice also a possible target.
Solskjaer though,currently has the likes of Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe in reserve, but the duo have failed to compete for a starting role amid their regular fitness concerns.
Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are the other options at the manager’s disposal, but the pair appear likely to head for the exit door this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment