Paper Talk: Chelsea target £70m January defender move

Chelsea are plotting a £70m January defender move if they can get their transfer ban lifted, while Maurizio Sarri had dropped a big hint over Paulo Dybala’s future – according to Monday’s papers.

CHELSEA TARGET JANUARY MOVE FOR £70M LEFT-BACK 

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard reportedly wants to sign Leicester defender Ben Chilwell when the Blues’ transfer ban ends.

The Blues boss is said to be a big fan of the £70million-rated Foxes star and has been tracking his progress for some time.

And Lampard sees the 22-year-old England star as the club’s long-term solution at left-back, according to The Sun.

Manchester City had considered a move for Chilwell this summer but decided to keep faith with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Benjamin Mendy instead.

Now Chelsea have emerged as major contenders for his signature, especially with Spain international Marcos Alonso considering his future.

Emerson is currently Lampard’s first choice for the role and although he impressed at times in the 4-0 thumping at Manchester United on Sunday, Chilwell is viewed as the player to take the club forward.

Chelsea’s current transfer ban means it will be next summer before they can sign players, although they are hoping that a successful appeal could see them back in the market in January.

LaLiga giants Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have also been linked with Chilwell in recent months, with the latter said to have had a £71m summer bid rejected for a player who has five years left on his contract.

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AND THE REST

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri says Argentine forward Paulo Dybala, who was heavily linked with Manchester United and Tottenham in the summer, may have to leave the Serie A champions or risk being left out of their Champions League squad (Daily Mirror)

Representatives for Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil will fly to the US to hold talks with DC United over a potential move for the former Germany international (Daily Express)

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane insists Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez have “100 per cent” of his backing but refused to rule out their sales before the end of the transfer window

Philippe Coutinho looks set to remain with Barcelona after they were unable to offload the Brazilian to the Premier League during the transfer window

Barcelona will allow Rafinha – who was linked with Liverpool and Arsenal – to leave the club this summer with Valencia the favourites to sign the Brazil midfielder (Sport)

Romelu Lukaku scored four goals on his debut for Inter Milan in their 8-0 victory over fourth division side Virtus Bergamo (Manchester Evening News)

Inter midfielder Ivan Perisic is due to undergo a medical at Bayern Munich ahead of a loan move with an option to buy

Belgium’s former Tottenham and West Brom midfielder Nacer Chadli, 30, has joined Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht on loan from Monaco (BBC Sport)

Crystal Palace midfielder Andros Townsend says “it’s massive” that Ivory Coast winger Wilfried Zaha stayed at the club in the summer (Daily Telegraph)

Napoli are closing in on the signing of PSV Eindhoven forward Hirving Lozano, according to Calciomercato

Bristol City striker Matty Taylor, 29, is closing in on a move to Oxford United (Bristol Post)

Celtic have scouted Kilmarnock left-back Greg Taylor as they search for a replacement for Kieran Tierney (Daily Record)