Transfer News: Chelsea in the race to sign former Tottenham defender playing in Spain

Chelsea in the race to sign former Spurs defender Juan Foyth

According to Fichajes (h/t Football.London), Chelsea, alongside rivals Manchester United are in the race to sign Villarreal and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth.

As per AS (h/t Football.London), Spanish giants Barcelona are also interested in signing the 24-year-old after they missed out on the signature of the Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta in the summer transfer window.

Foyth, who arrived in Villarreal in the summer of 2020, has a contract with the Yellow Submarine until 2026 (Transfermarkt). It is revealed that it would cost £42m for clubs to sign him in the upcoming transfer window.

The 24-year-old is a versatile defender who can play as a centre-back and right-back. He has played a handful of games as a defensive midfielder too.

Foyth only played six games in all competitions for Villarreal in the first half of this season, assisting two goals. He picked up an injury in the latter half of August and returned to action a week before the World Cup break.

He is currently with the Argentina team that has sealed their place in the semi-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after beating the Netherlands in the quarter-final on 9 November.

Chelsea are in a situation where they would need to find a replacement for veteran defender Thiago Silva (38). The Brazil captain, whose World Cup dreams were crushed by Croatia on Friday, has his contract expiring at Stamford Bridge at the end of this season.

A few weeks ago, he did not really sound convincing about staying beyond this season at Chelsea, although there was no ruling out the possibility as well.

Chelsea have been linked with Croatia’s heroic centre-back Josko Gvardiol since the summer transfer window. If we compare the qualities possessed by Gvardiol and Foyth, the former does get the edge. Moreover, we have had a look at the latter in the Premier League before, and it wasn’t all that convincing to be fair.

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So, even though the RB Leipzig defender would cost more (the German side holding out for £77m), we would be right to sign him than the Argentine.