Chelsea have been warned they will be making a mistake if they peruse the signing of Manchester United and Liverpool traget Malick Fofana.
The Lyon youngster is in high-demand after an eye-catching campaign for the Ligue 1 club who have already sold Rayan Cherki to Manchester City this summer.
Fofana is likely to command a fee in the region of £43million for a player they signed from Gent in January 2024 for just £17m.
Ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas, however, believes Fofana should not be a player Chelsea are focusing on buying this summer, even if rival clubs could benefit from his talent.
‘Malick Fofana is a young player that is still learning and I don’t think that is the right move,’ Gallas told Prime Casino.
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‘Chelsea have a lot of forward players already and I think they need experienced defenders now. They have won the Conference League but that right centre-back position is the one I’d look at, not wingers.’
The Blues are currently involved in Club World Cup action in America and it remains to be seen what impact that tournament will have on their preparations ahead of the new Premier League season.
Chelsea appear to have been handed a kind start to the season after the fixtures were announced earlier this week, but Gallas is concerned games against the likes of Crystal Palace and Brighton will be far tougher in reality than on paper.
He added: ‘Chelsea will want to get off to a good start as they look to go and finish in the top four and be in the race to win the title, but they’ve got a difficult start.
Chelsea Premier League fixtures in full
Sun Aug 17 – Crystal Palace (h)
Sat Aug 23 – West Ham United (a)
Sat Aug 30 – Fulham (h)
Sat Sep 13 – Brentford (a)
Sat Sep 20 – Manchester United (a)
Sat Sep 27 – Brighton & Hove Albion (h)
Sat Oct 4 – Liverpool (h)
Sat Oct 18 – Nottingham Forest (a)
Sat Oct 25 – Sunderland (h)
Sat Nov 1 – Tottenham Hotspur (a)
Sat Nov 8 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
Sat Nov 22 – Burnley (a)
Sat Nov 29 – Arsenal (h)
Wed Dec 3 – Leeds United (a)
Sat Dec 6 – A.F.C. Bournemouth (a)
Sat Dec 13 – Everton (h)
Sat Dec 20 – Newcastle United (a)
Sat Dec 27 – Aston Villa (h)
Tue Dec 30 – A.F.C. Bournemouth (h)
Sat Jan 3 – Manchester City (a)
Wed Jan 7 – Fulham (a)
Sat Jan 17 – Brentford (h)
Sat Jan 24 – Crystal Palace (a)
Sat Jan 31 – West Ham United (h)
Sat Feb 7 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
Wed Feb 11 – Leeds United (h)
Sat Feb 21 – Burnley (h)
Sat Feb 28 – Arsenal (a)
Wed Mar 4 – Aston Villa (a)
Sat Mar 14 – Newcastle United (h)
Sat Mar 21 – Everton (a)
Sat Apr 11 – Manchester City (h)
Sat Apr 18 – Manchester United (h)
Sat Apr 25 – Brighton & Hove Albion (a)
Sat May 2 – Nottingham Forest (h)
Sat May 9 – Liverpool (a)
Sun May 17 – Tottenham Hotspur (h)
Sun May 24 – Sunderland (a)
‘It might not seem that way but having four London derbies will take it out of them. Those games will be fierce and there will be a lot of pressure from both sets of fans.
‘Crystal Palace, West Ham, Fulham and Brentford will all be desperate to beat them, they would’ve been better off having some games with less pressure on to start the season.
‘Pressure will be on the players because they are must-win games, it will not be easy for Enzo Maresca.’