'Open to selling': Chelsea are ready to listen to offers for £35m player this summer - journalist

Chelsea could be ready to sell one of their central defenders in this transfer window.

Thiago Silva recently left Chelsea and another centre-back could follow the Brazilian out of the exit door before the summer ends.

Levi Colwill is one centre-half who has recently been linked with a move away from the club.

According to journalist Florian Plettenberg, Bayern Munich have made an enquiry about signing Colwill and the 21-year-old is open to a switch.

In terms of incomings, the Blues have recruited Tosin Adarabioyo from their west London rivals Fulham.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea could sell central defender

As things stand, Enzo Maresca will be going into the 2024/25 season with Colwill, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Axel Disasi and Trevoh Chalobah as his centre-back options.

However, like Colwill, Chalobah and Badiashile are also thought to be attracting interest from other clubs.

Chalobah is believed to be a key target for Fulham, while Badiashile has reportedly caught the attention from teams in Italy and Saudi Arabia.

Journalist Simon Phillips recently claimed that Chelsea will listen to offers for the latter, who only joined the club in 2023.

Speaking about Badiashile on his Substack, he wrote: “As well as the two Serie A clubs [AC Milan and AS Roma], we also understand Saudi interest is coming for the French centre-back.

“We suspect that Chelsea are going to at least listen to these offers, because we had always heard that Badiashile is one of the players who they could be open to selling at the right price and also, we are still looking at other centre-backs as well as Tosin Adarabioyo, and as many top outlets have reported, another could arrive.”

Should Chelsea listen to offers for Benoit Badiashile this summer?

Badiashile did not have the best 2023/24 campaign.

Injuries and having to compete against the likes of Silva, Colwill and Disasi restricted him to just 15 league starts.

However, the Frenchman, who cost Chelsea £35m when he joined Chelsea from AS Monaco, is still a young defender with some good attributes.

During his first season at Stamford Bridge, Badiashile won 3.2 aerial duels per game in the Premier League, which was the highest average in his squad (WhoScored). It shows that the 23-year-old can win headers, for example.

Being left-footed as well, Badiashile can bring balance to the Blues’ backline. Ultimately, it may be worth keeping the former Monaco man at the club until at least the winter transfer window.