Chelsea are reportedly lining up a move for Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente, with a view of adding cover for Diego Costa.
Costa currently leads the Premier League goalscoring charts after bagging 13 goals in 17 league games so far this season and is seemingly ready to fire Antonio Conte’s side to the title.
However, as reported by AS, the Italian tactician is keen to add depth to his squad in order to avoid a situation where he is left light in the second half of the campaign through a possible injury or suspension.
That search to strengthen his squad has taken him to Swansea, where is reportedly set to make a move to secure a reunion with Llorente having previously worked with him at Juventus.
The experienced 31-year-old frontman scored 27 goals in 92 games in Turin and has six in 15 for the Swans since signing a two-year deal with the club when joining from Sevilla in August.
With Swansea struggling badly to avoid the drop this season and as they search for a new manager after deciding to sack Bob Bradley, there is an argument that players like Llorente could be looking for an escape.
Conte appears to be ready to offer him a way out, but while that would be good news for the Spaniard if he seals a move in January, it isn’t particularly positive for Michy Batshuayi.
As noted by AS, the Belgian striker moved to Stamford Bridge this past summer in a €40m deal from Marseille, but has struggled to get playing time.
Having scored just once in 11 league matches, the pressure is on for him to rescue his Chelsea stint, but it doesn’t help when Conte snubbed the chance to start him against Bournemouth on Boxing Day even though Costa was suspended.
In turn, while the move makes sense for Chelsea to add quality and depth to sustain their title push, it would be another slap in the face for Batshuayi if the move for Llorente came to fruition.