Chelsea have earmarked Como’s Jacobo Ramon and Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi as alternative options if they fail to land Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, as per Ben Jacobs.
The Blues were dealt a heavy blow after Levi Colwill was reported to have suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury at the beginning of the season.
While Wesley Fofana and Nathaniel Chalobah have been almost faultless this season playing as the preferred first-choice options, the club have suffered the repercussions of not reinforcing the position with an additional, experienced and reliable centre-back, as Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile have both underperformed whenever called upon.
The club are now looking to reinforce their centre-back ranks and have been heavily linked to France U21 international star Jacquet, with Football Talk, citing other reports, revealing Chelsea’s interest in the youngster.
Now, according to Ben Jacobs, Jacques is Chelsea’s ‘priority’, and the London club are actively in talks with Rennes to thrash out a deal for the 20-year-old who is keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.
However, the Ligue 1 club are demanding a club record fee that exceeds the £55m Manchester City paid to sign Jeremy Doku in August 2023, according to the report.
As a result, Liam Rosenior’s side are exploring other alternative centre-back options in case they fail to land Jacques this winter.
Among the options the club is looking at are highly rated former Real Madrid academy graduate Ramon, valued at £15m by Transfermarkt, and Argentina international Senesi, Jacobs adds.
Alternative
For Ramon, the journalist reports that a deal would be difficult to achieve, as Madrid have a buy-back clause and are not ruling out triggering it to re-sign him at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
On the other hand, while Chelsea have not made an approach for Senesi at the time of writing, his contract at the Vitality Stadium will run out at the end of the season, potentially presenting a market opportunity, according to the report.
If Chelsea are to bring in an experienced centre-back to complement their current options, Senesi would be a sensible option. The Argentine is Premier League proven, and his 99 Premier League appearances alone are already more than both Jacquet’s and Ramon’s senior career appearances.
In addition, the prospect of signing him for free next summer or potentially for less than his £19m Transfermarkt valuation this January also makes him the more logical choice, as the other duo will likely cost triple the amount.
