Chelsea, amid their ongoing negotiations for Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho, also have to find a solution to their defensive shortage.
The west Londoners were considering a centre-back even before Levi Colwill’s nightmare ACL injury (Simon Phillips), but those plans have been brought more to the forefront with their Cobham academy graduate poised to miss around six-to-nine months.
He suffered the anterior cruciate ligament problem towards the end of his first training session back at the west London club, with his return ending in horror and 2025/2026 now mostly written off for Colwill.
There were some reports that Chelsea could turn to Renato Veiga as an option to fill in for the 22-year-old, but that notion has since been followed by credible sources confirming that the Portugal international remains up for sale.
Chelsea have already signed Jorrel Hato from Ajax, but Enzo Maresca and co reportedly view the teenage starlet as more of a left-back to alternate with Marc Cucurella.
Chelsea looking into signing defender on loan
Now, according to journalist Simon Phillips, via his Substack, Chelsea are thinking of an emergency measure to reinforce their central defensive numbers.
The club are under pressure from UEFA to register a positive transfer balance by September, or they won’t be able to register new signings for the Champions League, so it is imperative that BlueCo do not overspend on a new centre-back.
To combat this, Phillips reports that Chelsea are holding internal talks over signing a new defender on loan.
“Chelsea are exploring possible new centre backs after the injury to Levi Colwill,” wrote the journalist.
“Well, they were exploring new centre backs before that, and the proof is in the pudding because they tried to sign Dean Huijsen and failed, and then tried for Jarrad Branthwaite after that but his price tag was way too high.
“Sources have said this week that the club are discussing a new centre back again, and although we don’t have any solid names yet and will update accordingly when we do, there is talk of a potential loan deal being done for an incoming centre back.
“Chelsea do still hold an interest in Antonio Silva from Benfica, but the Marc Guehi noise is dying off because he prefers to go elsewhere at the moment.
“At the moment, it’s still all being considered, but at this point I’d be surprised if Chelsea now don’t sign a new centre back this window. It could still rest on player sales, but that will only be if we decide to sign a permanent new centre back rather than loan one in, which as I say, is now being spoken about internally.”
Maresca has confirmed that Wesley Fofana is likely to play against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener this weekend, and Trevoh Chalobah’s ankle injury isn’t as bad as first though, so it’s likely the Italian will start with those two against the Eagles.