Chelsea ’ s injuries have been a major and at times decisive factor in the way our season has gone, with Ben Chilwell ’ s ACL one of the biggest in terms of impact — we have won entirely 4 out of the 10 games he ’ s missed frankincense far .
With Chilly now formally ruled out through at least the end of the season ( and quite probably beyond ), Chelsea must use January to figure out a remedy for this problem, and possibly not just for the short-run but for the longer term adenine well. Marcos Alonso is not the actor he once was ( nor is César Azpilicueta ), and while christian Pulisic did okay against Brighton on the right flank, now Reece James is hurt vitamin a well, after he deputized on the impart in Wednesday ’ mho game .
We do have a couple likely “ in-house ” solutions, with a recall of Ian Maatsen from Coventry City a definite hypothesis ( less probable for Emerson or Baba Rahman ), and we could potentially promote a youth musician arsenic well ( though there is no James, Lamptey, or Livramento equivalent at the consequence ), but it ’ randomness more likely that Chelsea would dip into the transmit market in search of a solution .

Everton wantaway Lucas Digne seems a naturalistic option, while Chelsea have besides been linked with Sergiño Dest. The Telegraph, Goal, Gianluca Di Marzio and the Guardian all note that we could look to bring in one of them on a six-month loanword batch if we ’ re not willing to commit beyond that timeframe, although whether such an placement would be favorable to either Barcelona or Everton is yet to be seen .
interim, erstwhile target Nicolás Tagliafico has fallen down the pick at order at Ajax this season and could re-enter the conversation arsenic well ( as per the Daily Mail and Sky Sport Italia ). Tagliafico ’ s contract runs through 2023, which has besides alerted Newcastle United .
A more ambitious option could be person like Theo Hernández from AC Milan, which sounds capital in theory but would be evening harder in practice. Milan already rejected €46m from PSG for him in the summer, and are reportedly not interested in doing commercial enterprise at anything under €60m, if that. CalcioMercato ’ s Daniele Longo and Tuttosport claim that Chelsea have sounded out the 24-year-old ’ mho agents, but Milan have made it clear he ’ s not for sale.

The transfer window opens this weekend .