Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah reportedly still faces a battle to save his career at Stamford Bridge.
On Wednesday morning, reports emerged that suggested that the Blues had decided to recall the academy graduate from his loan spell with Crystal Palace.
That is a consequence of Wesley Fofana expected to be sidelined until at least March and Benoit Badiashile not being in line to return until at least February.
When the 25-year-old departed for Selhurst Park during the closing minutes of the summer transfer window, he was deemed to be behind the French duo and several other centre-backs.
However, Chalobah returns to his parent club having impressed during his 14 starts in an Eagles shirt, 12 of which came in the Premier League.
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Where does Chalobah stand at Chelsea?
There is currently the expectation that Chalobah will be used regularly by Enzo Maresca, potentially as early as Monday when the Blues play host to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, as per The Standard, it remains highly likely that Chalobah will be allowed to leave Chelsea on a permanent basis during the off-season.
The report suggests that the decision will be left up to the player, who may plausibly be facing stiffer competition for a starting role at that point.
That said, co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital are known to be in favour of selling homegrown talents in order to generate pure profit in the eyes of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability regulations.
If Chalobah enjoys a strong second half of the campaign, Chelsea will hope to raise more than the £25m that they failed to recoup last summer.
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A pawn in Guehi chase?
At the same time that Chelsea were considering bringing Chalobah back to the club, speculation mounted of a potential approach for his Eagles teammate Marc Guehi.
The England international - a former Chelsea academy graduate himself - has 18 months left on his contract and is currently valued in the region of £55m.
Knowing that Palace are huge admirers of Chalobah, a scenario could materialise where Chelsea propose a part-exchange deal involving Chalobah and a fee.
That would theoretically suit all parties with Palace in a position where there is an inevitability that they will eventually require a replacement for the Euro 2024 star.
Darren Plant
