Chelsea are working to back Enzo Maresca with the signing of a centre-back in the January transfer window, and they’ve reportedly reached out to the representatives of a Premier League star this week.
Chelsea's defensive shortage laid bare after summer failure
Maresca went public with his desire to bring in a top defender during the summer, coming after Chelsea failed with a move for Dean Huijsen and Levi Colwill was sidelined for the majority of 2025/2026.
“The club know exactly what I think,” Maresca said after Colwill’s injury.
“I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.”
Despite looking at their options, Chelsea couldn’t find the right profile to come in and bolster Maresca’s backline (Simon Phillips), and BlueCo are now paying the price.
Chelsea were the summer’s second-biggest spenders behind Liverpool, according to the BBC, but despite their large investment in recruitment, they failed to address key areas defensively with Maresca left extremely short.
Liverpool
£415,000,000
£187,000,000
£228,000,000
Chelsea
£285,000,000
£288,000,000
-£3,000,000
Arsenal
£255,000,000
£9,000,000
£246,000,000
Newcastle
£250,000,000
£152,000,000
£98,000,000
Man Utd
£216,000,000
£68,000,000
£148,000,000
Nottm Forest
£205,000,000
£107,000,000
£98,000,000
Tottenham
£181,000,000
£36,000,000
£145,000,000
Sunderland
£162,000,000
£44,000,000
£118,000,000
Man City
£152,000,000
£53,000,000
£99,000,000
West Ham
£124,000,000
£55,000,000
£69,000,000
via BBC
Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana and Colwill all missed Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League through injury, and with Trevoh Chalobah suspended for their crunch Premier League clash against Liverpool this weekend, Maresca has just three options to choose from.
Fofana and Tosin won’t return until after the October international break, with the former undergoing concussion protocol and the latter nursing a calf problem.
This leaves Maresca with Josh Acheampong, Jorrel Hato and Benoit Badiashile as his only central defensive choices, so it is likely the Italian will go for a pairing of Hato and Badiashile for Liverpool’s visit to Stamford Bridge.
Hato is regarded by Chelsea as more of a left-back to support Marc Cucurella (Ben Jacobs), while Badiashile is himself only just coming back from a long-term injury — having made a first start in three months against Benfica on Tuesday night.
It is a dire situation, and one which will undoubtedly frustrate Maresca behind-the-scenes after he was clear that the club need more central defensive options.
According to reports, Chelsea and Maresca are in agreement that the signing of a centre-back should be prioritised for January, with the west Londoners now at work on finding the right profile (Pete O’Rourke).
Chelsea hold talks with Marc Guehi ahead of potential January deal
Now, as per journalist Simon Phillips, Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi is being discussed as an option for January.
The England international, who was on the verge of joining Liverpool in a summer deadline day move, could leave for a very cheap fee mid-season or for free next summer, and Chelsea are thinking about luring Guehi away from Selhurst as soon as the next window.
Phillips reports that Chelsea have reached out to Guehi’s camp for discussions this week as they make centre-back enquiries, and Palace would rather sell in January than lose him for nothing later in 2026.
“Chelsea have made new enquiries this week in an attempt to sign a new defender in the up coming January transfer window,” Phillips wrote, via his Substack.
“Chelsea have once again made contact with the agents of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.
“This is because they are attempting to revive a January deal for Guehi and get him on a much cheaper deal that they would have got him for in the summer.
“Chelsea made enquiries for Guehi in the summer, but sources tell us that it was only Liverpool were were really pushing to sign him. Now Guehi’s price will be much cheaper in the winter and Guehi will have a lot more options — Chelsea will be one, Tottenham will be another.
“Palace would rather sell for a fee in January than lose him on a free in the summer.”
The “sensational” defender, who left Cobham for Palace in 2021, would be the perfect solution to Chelsea’s defensive crisis.
January could be too soon for Marc Guehi's Palace exit
Guehi has established himself as an England regular and Premier League stalwart during his time at Palace, and he could be one of the snips of 2026 as his contract ticks down towards expiry at the end of this season.
However, it is very debatable whether Oliver Glasner would be happy with chairman Steve Parish selling his star defender midway through the campaign, and this would certainly threaten to cause a stir considering just how crucial Guehi is to Palace.
The Eagles are currently on an 18-game unbeaten run and Glasner really won’t be keen on losing a player who’s so vital to his set-up, unless Palace manage to source a quality replacement.
Reports in the summer even suggested that Glasner threatened to leave Palace if Guehi was sold to Liverpool, with the transfer later called off, but this has since been denied by the tactician.