Chelsea in talks with Lyon over Emerson Palmieri as Tuchel looks to cut numbers

Thomas Tuchel is keen to decrease the size of his squad before the transfer window shuts later this month and Chelsea are prepared to sanction the sale of Emerson. The Italy international is below Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso in the pecking order at left wing-back and needs to leave to boost his chances of playing regularly this season.

Lyon have emerged as contenders to sign Emerson after seeing a move for Kurzawa break down. The Ligue 1 club were poised to sign the PSG left-back, but they have been forced to move on to other targets.

Emerson, who joined Chelsea from Roma in January 2018, was a member of Italy’s victorious squad at Euro 2020. The 27-year-old started Italy’s victory over England in the final after replacing the injured Leanardo Spinazzola. He could command a fee in the region of £15m.

Chelsea, who are close to selling Tammy Abraham to Roma for £34m, are also set to loan Michy Batshuayi to Besiktas and are listening to offers for Tiémoué Bakayoko. The European champions have interest in Bakayoko from Rennes, Lyon and Milan.

There is also uncertainty over Kurt Zouma’s future. West Ham are interested in a £25m deal for the French centre-back, although they are not prepared to meet Zouma’s wage demands at the moment. The east Londoners are in the market for a new defender after walking away from a deal to sign Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic for £14m.

Chelsea, who are close to selling the 23-year-old forward Ike Ugbo to Genk for £5m, need to find a buyer for Zouma if they are to push ahead with their move for the Sevilla centre-back Jules Koundé. They have seen their initial proposals for Kounde knocked back, but their interest in the 21-year-old France international remains strong.

The delay in negotiations over Koundé has created a chance in the Chelsea team for Trevoh Chalobah, who scored on his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Tuchel was impressed with Chalobah in pre-season and could start him again against Arsenal this Sunday. However the 22-year-old, who has a year left on his current deal, could still leave on loan this month.