Tottenham, Leeds and Everton have been dealt a transfer blow after Trevor Chalobah signed a new contract at Chelsea.
What’s the story?
Well, it was the Evening Standard who revealed that Tottenham are interested in the 23-year-old.
Elsewhere, 90min claimed that Leeds and Everton want to sign Chalobah.
The rumours emerged amid a difficult time for the Chelsea No.14 at Stamford Bridge, as he found game time hard to come by under Thomas Tuchel.
However, Chalobah has been far more involved since Graham Potter replaced the German, and the 47-year-old’s admiration for the defender has now seen him receive a new long-term contract at Chelsea, as detailed by The Athletic.
The £70m signing of Wesley Fofana and the £34m capture of Kalidou Koulibaly looked to have put an end to the England Under-21 international’s time at Chelsea.
Now, it seems Antonio Conte, Jesse Marsch and Frank Lampard will have no chance of signing the man born in Sierra Leone, as he commits himself to the Blues until June 2028.
Tottenham have alternatives to Leeds & Everton target
Tottenham appear to have a number of other centre-back targets in their sights, so they may feel more relaxed about missing out on Chalobah in comparison to Leeds and Everton.
According to Dean Jones, Spurs are keen to sign Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan, a player who worked with Conte at the San Siro, and has been described as a dream target for the north Londoners.
According to Alasdair Gold of Football London, Tottenham are also interested in Josko Gvardiol of RB Leipzig.
The Spurs correspondent said: “I’ll be intrigued to see. I don’t think a January move is likely at all, but I am intrigued by what’s happening with Alessandro Bastoni at Inter. He was one of Tottenham’s top two centre-back targets in the summer, Gvardiol was the other, but they were massively priced out for him and he didn’t want to leave either.”
Keep an eye on Tottenham in 2023, as we would be very surprised if they didn’t sign a new central defender.
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