Chelsea think £83m double deal from same club will fix Maresca’s defence

Chelsea believe that an astonishing double deal could be just what they need to fix Enzo Maresca‘s defence at Stamford Bridge, and are willing to pay a massive amount to get it done, according to a fresh report.

Question marks over Chelsea’s defence

Chelsea’s Premier League defeat to Liverpool at Anfield may have been just their second of the season, but it raised plenty of questions about their defence.

First-choice centre-back Wesley Fofana was serving a suspension, which saw Maresca field Tosin Adarabioyo alongside Levi Colwill, with Malo Gusto asked to play at left-back in Marc Cucurella’s absence.

Signed on a free transfer, Tosin did little to inspire confidence in him as he turned in a shaky performance, picking up a yellow card just six minutes in before being substituted after 53 minutes.

Neither Axel Disasi nor Benoit Badiashile have done much to stake a claim for a first-team spot either, which leaves Maresca still seeking truly world-class defenders at Stamford Bridge following the departure of Thiago Silva.

As a result, the Blues are expected to return to the transfer market to add more defenders to their ranks and have been strongly linked with a move to sign RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba, who they are believed to have been scouting.

Now, a fresh report has claimed that the west London side are eyeing up a mammoth double deal.

Chelsea to raid Benfica in £83m move

That is according to reports in Spain, who claim that Chelsea are in the process of preparing a €100m (£83.3m) offer to sign two Benfica defenders.

The pair in question are highly rated duo Antonio Silva and Tomas Araujo, with Chelsea having been strongly linked with the latter recently and even seeing a bid turned down for his services last summer.

It is claimed that Silva is also attracting attention from Arsenal and Manchester United, but that Chelsea are ready to invest heavily in the Portuguese international in order to get a deal done.

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The west Londoners have taken note of his impressive exploits.

Araujo, meanwhile, would arrive as a player for the future as much as for the present, in a similar manner to Renato Veiga’s arrival last summer, with the club seeing the Benfica duo as “a key opportunity to rejuvenate and improve their defensive lineup” amid ongoing uncertainty.

The 22-year-old can play at both right-back and centre-back and has started five times in Portugal’s top flight this season, where has partnered with 20-year-old Silva. He could provide cover both on the right side of defence and for injury-prone pair Gusto and Reece James when required.

Their arrivals would be unlikely to happen until the summer at the earliest, with Benfica almost certainly keen not to lose their first-choice defensive pairing in January, while it would probably also require Chelsea to make some major sales to make room for the duo.

With their current crop of defenders all tied to long-term contracts (the earliest expiry being in 2028), that could be far more easily said than done, a fact that could prove a major obstacle for this audacious deal.