Revealed: German giants want Chelsea player but not for either of his two most common roles
Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah warm up before Chelsea pre-season friendly
While Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea, they are not currently considering him as a centre-back target, it has been revealed in Germany.
Chalobah will almost certainly be on his way out of Chelsea in 2024, after rejecting chances to leave in the summer. Injuries have prevented him from playing any part under Mauricio Pochettino this season.
TEAMtalk recently revealed that Borussia Dortmund are in contention to take Chalobah to the Bundesliga, along with Bayern Munich.
Since our exclusive, Bild has confirmed that Chalobah is on Borussia Dortmund’s shortlist – but of full-back targets, not for a centre-back berth.
The German giants are in the market for reinforcements in both full-back positions in January, it has been explained.
If they can sell Thomas Meunier, they could reinvest in a new right-back – and it is to play in that territory that they are weighing up Chalobah.
Throughout his career so far, right-back is only the third most common position Chalobah has played in. For Chelsea and his various loan clubs, he has more often been deployed as a centre-back or holding midfielder.
But he can play at right-back and did so on a handful of occasions last season, which is why Borussia Dortmund believe he could make that position change more permanent.
We were told last month that Chalobah would prefer to remain in England, although playing in the Champions League – like Dortmund are this season – would also appeal to him.
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Chalobah has already ventured abroad once in his career, having spent the 2020-21 season in France on loan at Lorient.
How he would feel about Dortmund’s tactical plans for him remains to be seen, but the lure of better gametime than he could get at Chelsea might be worth keeping in mind.
New challenge awaits Chalobah
Chalobah has played 63 times for the Chelsea first team, including 35 starts in the Premier League, but he could become the latest academy graduate to be shown the door at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea tied Chalobah down to a contract until 2028 this time last year, but things can change quickly in football and he now represents an option for the club to raise funds by selling.
If all of Chelsea’s centre-backs were fit, Pochettino would probably prefer Thiago Silva, Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Benoit Badiashile ahead of Chalobah in the pecking order.
Even if Chelsea were to consider him as a right-back, like Dortmund appear to, Chalobah would still face a tough task dislodging either Reece James or Malo Gusto.
As alluded to, BVB are not the only potential takers for Chalobah. He has also been linked with a move to Italy with Roma, for example; and centre-back is the defensive department they are lacking depth in, not right-back.
Tottenham also continue to explore a move to keep him in the Premier League and London by virtue of their need for a new defender – at centre-back, in their case too.
