The agent of Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri has revealed he has not been contacted by either Inter or Juventus amid transfer speculation.
The 25-year-old has had an inconsistent campaign so far this season for Frank Lampard as he has been in and out of the starting line-up.
SEE MORE: Potential blow for Frank Lampard as key staff member in talks with Turkish club
Emerson has 17 appearances to his name across all competitions, but he has fallen out of favour in the Premier League in recent weeks with captain Cesar Azpilicueta getting the nod at left-back.
As noted by the Independent ahead of the January transfer window, both Inter and Juventus were paired with an interest in the Italian international, with the former even said to be preparing a £25m offer to take him back to Italy after his previous stint at Roma.
Now though, his agent, Luis Fernando Menez Garcia, has poured cold water all over the possibility of a return to Italy as he has insisted that he hasn’t even heard from either club.
“I know that Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte like him very much,” he told Juvenews.eu, as quoted by Calciomercato. “Both teams have shown interest in the past, but I haven’t heard from anyone. I have no longer had contact with the Juventus officials.”
That would suggest that a return to Serie A isn’t in the offing this month, although time will tell if the situation changes in the coming week or so.
From a Chelsea perspective, with their transfer ban being reduced to allow them to sign players in January, it could be an opportunity for Lampard to bring in reinforcements and to stamp his mark on the squad that he inherited.
However, unless his top targets are available midway through the campaign which seems unlikely, it appears as though a more sensible strategy would be to wait until the summer to make any big-money signings, and so Emerson could remain until the end of the season at least to ensure they have enough quality depth at left-back.