Chelsea reportedly want to move on Andreas Christensen before launching their bid to re-sign Nathan Ake from Bournemouth.
The Blues remain in fourth place in the Premier League table after 21 games, while they successfully made it through to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
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In turn, it’s fair to say that things are going well under Frank Lampard, while they were boosted by the decision over their transfer ban being reduced which will allow them to sign players this month if desired.
However, one key weakness in the current side has been the defence, as they’ve conceded 29 goals in those 21 league games, giving them the second worst defensive record of the top nine sides in the standings.
With that in mind, it appears as though Chelsea could be looking at ways to try and shore things up at the back, and according to The Sun, that involves taking Ake back to Stamford Bridge with Christensen making way to allow that to happen.
It’s noted that the Dane is likely to be the odd man out as Chelsea will listen to offers, but there are two major obstacles in any potential exit as it’s noted that his wages and £35m price-tag could be problematic for most clubs.
Further, the Sun report that they have a £40m buy-back option on Ake, and so it would certainly help in getting that fee for Christensen to then use it on a direct replacement with the likes of Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Fikayo Tomori facing competition.
Time will tell if the pieces fall into place for Chelsea, but it appears as though they have a clear plan in place and it ultimately hinges on their ability to offload Christensen to get the ball rolling.