Chelsea have been offered a Barcelona star who Spain legend Carles Puyol previously called one of world football’s best in his position, according to a new report.
Chelsea prioritise new centre-back for January transfer window
Enzo Maresca, after seeing his wish for a new centre-back unfulfilled last summer, is in agreement with the Blues that they need to bring one in when the winter window opens.
Chelsea’s lack of options was laid bare during their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge just prior to the international break, with Trevoh Chalobah suspended and missing the clash alongside the injured Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill.
Enzo Fernández
Knee
Unknown
Cole Palmer
Groin
November
Andrey Santos
Knock
Unknown
Dario Essugo
Thigh
Early 2026
Liam Delap
Hamstring
November
Levi Colwill
ACL
Spring 2026
via Standard Sport
While Fofana and Tosin are expected to be available for Chelsea’s Premier League return against Nottingham Forest this weekend, alongside Chalobah, who’s served his one-match suspension after being sent off against Brighton, the centre of defence needs to be solidified with proven quality.
Chelsea tried to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth before the Spaniard’s move to Real Madrid, and internally discussed the possibility of a new centre-back later in the summer after Colwill’s ACL injury.
However, after failing to source the right profile, Chelsea ultimately didn’t move for one, with Maresca and Stamford Bridge chiefs now set to prioritise defensive reinforcements in January (Pete O’Rourke).
Chelsea also wanted another goalkeeper, as evident by their summer talks for AC Milan’s Mike Maignan and links to Gianluigi Donnarumma, with Cobham academy graduate Marc Guehi also mentioned as a BlueCo target for 2026.
“If you spoke to most people regarding Chelsea, those were the positions that they obviously think maybe looked like needed strengthening more than elsewhere,” former Chelsea star Jody Morris told SunSport on the club’s need for a new keeper and centre-half.
“I think if you’re talking about two players in Donnarumma and Marc Guehi, you absolutely would go, I think they enhance most teams, not just Chelsea.”
Chelsea are believed to be assessing targets right now, and they’ve got their eyes on a few key men from Barcelona.
Chelsea offered Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo
One of them, according to journalist Graeme Bailey, is £208,000-per-week defender Ronald Araujo.
The Uruguay international, who’s captained Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions each time he’s started a game this season, is under contract until 2031 and will likely command a premium price tag.
He’s also not overly keen on leaving Catalonia as things stand either, but Bailey has told TBR Football that Chelsea have been offered the chance to sign Araujo regardless, potentially by Barça themselves, considering their well-documented financial problems.
“I am told [Eric] Garcia is someone Chelsea would want in January, but the chances are he will have signed a new deal,” Bailey said.
“They have been offered Araujo, and in theory, they do have an interest, but they are yet to be convinced he wants to leave Barcelona, so I do not believe they are pushing too hard on that.
“Should Araujo make it clear he would move, then things could very well change, but as it stands, he really isn’t keen on leaving.”
The 26-year-old was in and out of Flick’s starting eleven last term, and missed the first half of 2024/2025 with a serious hamstring injury.
Despite injuries thwarting his momentum across Flick’s debut campaign as Barcelona boss, Araujo has now worked his way back into being a firm regular, and his top-level experience could be exactly what Chelsea need.
During his time at Barça, Puyol has also lavished Araujo as one of the best centre-backs in world football.
“He’s in extraordinary condition. I’ll stick with what they’ve told me, because I don’t know him personally, but he’s very professional, humble, he always gives his best in training and matches and that’s where his performance is,” Puyol told Mundo Deportivo in 2023.
“Right now, if he’s not the best central defender in the world, he’s among the top three. He’s young, he still has room for improvement and I think we have a very good central defender at Barcelona for many years to come”.