Man Utd make Ben Chilwell decision as Chelsea given fresh Victor Osimhen transfer hope

Chelsea are now on international break for another week or so, going into the pause on the back of a draw with Nottingham Forest. The Blues will be disappointed with that result, but they will be generally pleased with their start overall, with Enzo Maresca’s men sitting inside the top four and just three points behind last season’s top two.

Maresca’s men will hope to back up their early season form after the break, but in the meantime, we have rounded up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding Stamford Bridge.

Chilwell latest

Manchester United are said to be prioritising a move for Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell in the January transfer window. The Red Devils have struggled massively on the left side of their defence, with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia having been out through injury this season, with the latter having been sidelined for more than a year.

Chilwell has had injury issues of his own, but United may be able to get hold of the England international for a discounted fee given Chelsea no longer require his services. TEAMtalk say they will push ahead with a deal for Chilwell this January having been linked with a move for him during the summer window.

Osimhen latest

Chelsea are still being tipped to make a move for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, who is currently on loan with Galatasaray. The Blues pushed for a move to sign the striker late in the summer window but failed to meet his wage demands.

According to Corriere dello Sport, Osimhen remains keen to join Chelsea in January, and a deal could be done given he has a break clause in his loan deal. It’s also claimped that Napoli will be keen to seal a deal given Osimhen’s release clause will drop to £68million in any case during the summer, albeit only to clubs outside of Serie A.

Merson on Palmer

Paul Merson believes Cole Palmer could face similar issues to Jude Bellingham during international duty with England. “Playing at number ten is going to be hard, international football’s a lot different. When you start playing against the big boys, the international big boys, people look out for you,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“The one thing that you get in the Premier League now is no one ever goes man-to-man with anyone, really. No one ever goes: ‘Stop Palmer playing. Stop Palmer, we’ll stop Chelsea.’ On the international side, he’ll be alright at the moment. Bellingham’s got the reputation, not Palmer. He catches international teams cold, not so much Ireland but other teams won’t have played against him to know what he’s like.

“Bellingham goes across to Spain and scores 17 in 20 games. Then in the second half of the season, clubs wise up to it that he’s going to make late runs into the box. They’ve nipped that in the bud now, he doesn’t score a goal, now he’s got to think of something else. The same thing will happen to Palmer, but while he’s hot you play these players. You have to. If you can’t find a space for him now, I don’t see him playing for England. He can’t get any more consistent.”