Chelsea have reportedly reached a £33m agreement with Monaco for the transfer of Benoit Badiashile.
The 21-year-old has impressed for Monaco this season, receiving regular praise for his ‘aggressive’ style. He is also versatile, with the ability to fit perfectly into a three or four-man back line.
The Monaco defender has been at the French club for his entire career and became a consistent starter in the 2019/20 season at just 18 years old.
Now, Badiashile has become increasingly important for Les Rouge et Blanc. Overall, he has made 161 appearances for Monaco, giving him some great experience, playing for one of France’s biggest clubs.
The youngster has also already received a call-up to the French national team, playing two matches in the Nations League earlier this year.
Chelsea were on the lookout for a left-sided centre-back during the summer and saw an £80m bid for Josko Gvardiol turned down.
But interest in the Croatia international will now likely end as The Athletic claim the Blues have tied up a deal for Badiashile.
It was previously claimed that the Ligue 1 side were holding out for £35m but it appears a compromise has been struck for just below that mark.
Badiashile will join Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana – both of whom joined in the summer – as well as Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah, as centre-back options for Graham Potter.
And Chelsea are unlikely to stop there in January with a €130m deal for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez seemingly edging closer.
Potter vowed ahead of his side’s clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday to get Chelsea on an upward curve in 2023.
“We want to keep improving, that’s the simple answer,” he said.
“We’ve had a challenging time, some ups, some downs, in terms of the previous year which is normal at any football club.
“But we want to stabilise, try and improve and make our supporters happy, because we know the last few weeks before the break wasn’t nice for us, results suffered, performances weren’t where we wanted them to be and we have to do better than that.”
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