Chelsea vs Barcelona for Pavard: The state of play
Cameron Smith
- 4 Nov 2022 04:15 CDT
- 3 min read
Bayern Munich and France defender Benjamin Pavard is attracting interest from Europe's top clubs, with transfer talk increasingly suggesting he may leave the Allianz Arena soon.
Pavard's rocky relationship with Bayern was reported over the summer, with the 26-year-old said to be open to a move away.
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According to reports, Pavard wants to play in his preferred position of centre-back, but the signing of Dutch star Matthijs de Ligt in the transfer window provided competition for places, while fellow new acquisition Noussair Mazraoui has recently made the right-back slot his own.
As a result, Pavard has reportedly looked unhappy in training and doesn't currently see eye-to-eye with head coach Julian Nagelsmann, according to Football Espana.
This has seen links with a move away start bubbling away again, with Chelsea and Atletico Madrid both said to be interested, while Sport have reported that Barcelona have joined the race as they look to solve their issues in the right-back position.
READ: Chelsea target storms out of Bayern Munich training
Pavard's current contract at Bayern is set to expire in 2024, meaning the Bavarians must make a decision on whether to offer an extension to that deal, sell him next summer or lose him for free in 2024.
The defender joined Bayern from Stuttgart back in 2016 after initially coming through Lille's academy.
Chelsea vs Barcelona for Pavard
While Atletico Madrid are also in the hunt for Pavard's signature, they currently need to offload players and therefore are unlikely to be able to fund a move for the France international.
As a result, it may leave Chelsea and Barcelona to battle for his signature. The latter would likely use Pavard at right-back given their lack of options in that position, while the former would more likely use Pavard in the right centre-back role currently filled by academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah.
READ: Former Brazil striker admits he regrets Chelsea transfer
With Pavard expressing his desire to play in the middle of defence, that may swing things towards Graham Potter's side, who are in need of defensive reinforcements considering Thiago Silva's age.
However, Chelsea and Barcelona have done battle for signings before, with the Blaugrana coming out on top and landing both Jules Kounde and Raphinha in the 2022 summer transfer window.
