Chelsea will see their efforts to sign Matteo Darmian blocked by Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, according to reports.
The Italian international has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford, with Antonio Valencia establishing himself as Mourinho’s first choice right-back.
In turn, the 26-year-old could be forced to consider his options in the January transfer window as he will undoubtedly want regular first-team football and will be desperate to protect his spot in the Italy squad.
Having failed to feature for Mourinho so far this season, the former Torino full-back has been linked with a move to join Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, with the pair previously having worked together during their time with the Azzurri.
However, The Sun have claimed that Mourinho isn’t interested in doing business with his former club, and doesn’t want to strengthen a direct rival and so will stand in the way of any deal.
It goes against his previous decisions given that he allowed Juan Mata to join United when he was at Chelsea, while Petr Cech signed for Arsenal.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t look as though Mourinho will be sanctioning this one, as Chelsea continue to look at ways to bolster their defensive options.
Conte signed David Luiz and Marcos Alonso on deadline day last month, but with long-term question marks over Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry, he is keen to bring in more new faces to bolster his backline.
It remains to be seen whether or not he can secure a reunion with his compatriot in west London, but with strong interest also coming from Italy for Darmian, Conte could be fighting a losing battle if Mourinho isn’t interested in shipping his defender out to another Premier League side.