Chelsea could pull off win-win swap deal with hated rivals

Stuart Telford

• 28 Jan 2024 10:56 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea and Fulham may be local rivals, but the clubs are ready to complete a swap deal involving Trevoh Chalobah, according to a report.

Chalobah broke through at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel three seasons ago but has been frozen out of the first-team picture since Mauricio Pochettino became manager last July.

Chalobah had previously been linked with a move to Bayern Munich, where Tuchel is now head coach, but the German champions have now signed Sacha Boey from Galatasaray instead.

And Fulham could now come forward with a deal for Chalobah that would suit all parties.

"Another player that [Fulham manager] Marco Silva appreciates is Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah," reports Rudy Galetti in his CaughtOffside column. "With many clubs - in England and in the rest of Europe - keeping a close eye on his situation.

Chelsea 'asked about Robinson'

"The Blues are open to letting him go this month but they prefer that it's on a permanent deal, not a loan.

"The clubs will continue to look for a way in which a deal can be done to suit all parties, and one option could be a potential player swap, given that Chelsea asked for info about left-back Antonee Robinson during the discussions for Chalobah."

Chalobah is valued at €29.1 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, while Robinson is tagged at €32.3m, so a straight swap between the two clubs seems plausible.

Robinson, as a left-back, could have greater opportunity to break into the Chelsea team than Chalobah has had of late, with the incumbents in the position struggling.

Ben Chilwell has been dropped in favour of Levi Colwill - a centre-back by trade - in recent months, while it is understood the Blues will listen to offers for Marc Cucurella, whom they paid Brighton £55m for in August 2022.