Ligue 1 club AS Monaco are pushing for more than £35million from Chelsea for defender Benoit Badiashile, according to Daily Mail.
Talks are ongoing with the 21-year-old centre-back eager to make the move to Stamford Bridge.
The 21-year old left-sided centre back is viewed as an aggressive player who can fit comfortably into a three or four man defence and give manager Graham Potter the flexibility he desires for tactical switches.
Badiashile was the subject of a bid from Newcastle Unitedearlier in the year but picked up an injury after talks were initiated and Eddie Howe’s side moved on to other targets and ultimately reverted back to signing Sven Botman.
West Ham and Sevilla also showed interest but the 6ft 4in France international has always wanted to play for a Premier League side contending for the Champions League.
Chelsea had a bid rejected for Red Bull Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol last summer and, while the Croatian remains a target, his club’s reluctance to sell has prompted Chelsea’s immediate move for Badiashile.
They are eager to reduce the average age of their squad to under 25 while Monaco, who have former Tottenham head of recruitment Paul Mitchell as sporting director, are open to the sale.
Monaco coach Philippe Clement talking about interest in his players said: “As a coach, we’re always happy when the transfer window shuts. We’ll see. It depends on the situations, if they’re interesting for the club or not. The most important thing for me is that the players have their minds here, and that’s the case.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle have made Chelsea’s Jorginho their prime target for the January window as his contract talks continue to stall.
The 31-year old Italy international is out of contract in the summer and will be a free agent.
Newcastle have also discussed Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans and 21-year old Nice midfielder Kephren Thuram, brother of France and Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marcus.
