Chelsea are plotting a swoop to sign Atletico Madrid centre-back Marc Pubill, according to Fichajes.
Pubill began his footballing journey in Espanyol’s youth system before he moved to Levante’s academy, where he made his LaLiga debut in December 2021 at just 18 years old.
Following Levante’s relegation, Pubill continued to develop in the Segunda División before joining Almería, where he made 63 appearances, scoring two goals and providing eight assists.
At the international level, the 22-year-old most notably won the 2024 Olympics with Spain, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by Sevilla’s Juanlu Sánchez.
Following their relegation, Atletico reportedly trumped Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers to secure Pubill’s signature in the last summer transfer window, where he has since made 17 appearances across all competitions.
According to Fichajes, several Premier League clubs have made enquiries to understand his situation and potential availability at the Estadio Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
One of the clubs interested in Pubill is Chelsea, according to the Spanish outlet, which claims that the London club have shown the most pressure in recent weeks to sign him and have intensified talks with the player’s camp as they look to get the deal over the line.
Despite Atletico slapping a £68m tag on the five-cap Spanish international who is viewed as the ‘ideal profile’ for his defence by Liam Rosenior, the Blues are not ruling out matching their demands next summer should his performance continue to improve, Fichajes adds.
‘Ideal profile’
Chelsea were expected to add a centre-back to their ranks, with former manager Enzo Maresca publicly making the demand after the aftermath of Levi Colwill’s injury.
Instead, the club maintained faith in their available options, which have been occasionally impressive, like the game against Barcelona, but inconsistent for most of the campaign.
In the recently concluded winter transfer window, they were heavily linked with Rennes’ Jeremy Jacquet but were trumped by Premier League rivals Liverpool for his signature.
This led to the recalls of Mamadou Sarr and Aaron Anselmino from their loan spells in Strasbourg and Borussia Dortmund, respectively.
The club already have a host of other options, including Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong, and Trevoh Chalobah, meaning Rosenior is not short of right centre-backs unless it’s an upgrade on the current options.
While statistics suggest otherwise, his qualities suggest he could improve with more playing time, but Chelsea could do with a more experienced choice.
