Chelsea are reportedly preparing to put forward an offer for Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram.
The Blues are currently enduring one of their worst Premier League campaigns for a number of years, finding themselves 10 points adrift of the Champions League places.
In response, the club's new owners are ready to spend big during the January transfer window, something which has already occurred with the additions of Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana.
However, those arrivals are expected to represent just the start of another significant spree in the market with Chelsea seemingly prepared to pay in excess of £80m on each of Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez and Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Whether either deal materialises remains to be seen, with Benfica not prepared to sell Fernandez for less than £106m and Mudryk said to prefer Arsenal over their London rivals.
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With Chelsea outsiders in the race for the latter, it appears that they may instead try to sign a player who has just featured in a World Cup final for a considerably reduced price.
According to Footmercato, Chelsea intend to make a formal offer for Thuram before the end of the current transfer window.
The France international has less than six months remaining on his contract with Monchengladbach and it is widely expected that he will depart the German side in 2023.
At a time when Monchengladbach are pushing for a return to European football, much will depend on whether any club is prepared to meet the 25-year-old's asking price in January rather than compete with a vast array of other clubs in the summer.
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A previous report has suggested that Monchengladbach would be prepared to cash in on their star man for a fee in the region of £13.2m.
Thuram, who made five substitute outings at the World Cup, has already netted 10 times and contributed three assists in 15 top-flight fixtures during 2022-23.
As it stands, it is unclear whether Thuram will be tempted to move to Stamford Bridge at this time, aware that he will have his pick of clubs later in the year.
Earlier this week, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan were all credited with an interest in Thuram, but had been put off by his transfer value for January.
Darren Plant
