Chelsea are reportedly considering recalling centre-back Trevoh Chalobah loan with Crystal Palace to solve their defensive problems.
Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana have both been sidelined with long-term injuries, although the latter has questioned manager Enzo Maresca’s public belief that he could sit out the entire season.
With the limited options available to Maresca, he turned to 18-year-old Josh Acheampong, who shone at the weekend against a Palace side that couldn’t field Chalobah.
It had previously been claimed that Chelsea’s loan deal with Palace did not contain a cancellation clause, but The athlete Now suggest something different and state that the Blues are considering bringing Chalobah back this month.
Chelsea have already brought summer signing Aaron Anselmino back from his loan spell at Boca Juniors to strengthen the defense and they could do the same with Chalobah, who has made a splash in south London under Oliver Glasner this season.
The key to the Blues’ thinking could be Chalobah’s versatility. Although the 25-year-old is a natural centre-back, he has plenty of experience at both right-back and midfield, meaning he could fill a range of roles in Maresca’s fluid line-up.
Bringing Chalobah back to Stamford Bridge would be significant as the academy graduate was left out of the squad in pre-season as part of a plan to sell him for pure profit under pressure from PSR, strip him of his squad number and sending him to train with the famous “bomb squad” before a loan move to Palace emerged late in the summer transfer window.
This decision was met with real controversy, not least because of Chalobah’s native attachment to the club. The 25-year-old played an important role in the second half of last season under former coach Mauricio Pochettino and was instrumental in Chelsea’s rise from 11th to sixth place in the table.
Chelsea signed Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer in the summer and the former Fulham player, along with Axel Disasi, pushed Chalobah down the pecking order before Palace offered him the chance to revive his career.