Former Chelsea captain Franck Leboeuf has warned compatriot Wesley Fofana against signing for the club, believing that the Leicester City defender would be better served staying put for now.
Manager Thomas Tuchel has been in the market for new centre-backs this summer as he looks to reinforce his defence following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, the former joining Real Madrid and the latter Barcelona.
They were heavily linked with a move for Matthijs de Ligt after he made his desire to leave Juventus clear, but the Dutchman eventually opted to join Bayern Munich instead. Jules Kounde also turned down a move to Stamford Bridge, opting to join Barcelona from Sevilla instead.
The Blues currently have four recognised first-team centre-back options, with Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly having been signed from Napoli in order to support Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr and Trevoh Chalobah.
But with Tuchel having employed his traditional 3-4-1-2 system since arriving at Chelsea at the beginning of 2021, using it to make the Blues European and world champions, the German needs further depth in the centre of defence.
His attention has turned to 21-year-old Fofana in recent days, though Leicester are reportedly holding out for a world-record £85m for a player they signed for £35m from Ligue 1 club St Etienne two years ago.