EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea line up two centre-back targets

Chelsea have shortlisted Benfica defender Tomas Araujo and Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi as defensive targets, FootballTransfers has been told.

The Blues remain hopeful of bringing more names to their backline for next year and the hierarchy are huge fans of both players.

Araujo was looked at over the summer but the club opted not to make a move for the 22-year-old in the end as Benfica were unwilling to sell below his €100 million release clause.

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Zabarnyi has established himself as one of the most impressive young defenders in the Premier League, with Chelsea now very keen on bringing the Ukraine international to Stamford Bridge.

Over the summer, he signed a new five-year contract until 2029 with the Cherries. But interest has since grown and now Chelsea are at the forefront, with Enzo Maresca understood to be a fan.

Upon signing his new deal, Zabarnyi said: “I’m so excited and so happy to be here. I’m really enjoying it, it’s a beautiful town and a really exciting project. I’ve enjoyed a lot of good moments, last season was important for me.

“We achieved a record points total but we can do more, it’s a really great place to be and I’m pleased to extend my stay.”

Chelsea still keen

The central defender, who joined Bournemouth from Dynamo Kyiv for around €22.7m in January 2023, played every minute for Ukraine at Euro 2024 this summer. He also played 90 minutes in all but one of Bournemouth’s Premier League games last season, as the south coast club earned 12 clean sheets.

It comes after incoming youngster Estevao Willian revealed he will travel to London next month where he will meet boss Maresca for the first time.

The 17-year-old Brazilian wonderkid was sold from Palmeiras to the Blues but is not able to join until next summer. He had confirmed he is set to meet Maresca when he travels to England next month.

Estevao said via TM: “Everyone is talking to me about Big Ben. I haven’t done much research yet, but I’ve already found out a few things about it on the internet.

“I’m excited to visit London. Everyone says it’s one of the best cities in the world, that it receives a lot of tourists and everyone praises it. That also influenced my decision to go to Chelsea. We’ll go there at the end of the year. They say it’s cold, but we’re prepared.”