Youngsters Imbula and Thauvin are on the radar of the west London club.
Despite signing Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah in the January transfer window, Chelsea are planning a late bid for either of Marseille’s Giannelli Imbula or Florian Thauvin, reports Inside Futbol.
Blues scout Guy Hillion was spotted at the AS Monaco v Marseille Ligue 1 game at the weekend, as the west London club weigh up the prospect of a bid for one of the starlets.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is also a keen admirer of Thauvin and has previously admitted that the Gunners have tracked the 21-year-old.
“We were following him and we were interested in him before he joined Lille,” the 64-year-old was quoted by the Mirror in November 2013.
“For me, he is one of the big prospects of French football.”
Thauvin moved to the Stade Velodrome from Lille in the summer, along with Imbula – who was also being tracked by Jose Mourinho before the switch.
The former plays primarily as a right winger, but can operate all across attacking midfield and could be the ideal replacement for Kevin de Bruyne at Stamford Bridge; after the Belgian made the £16m switch to Wolfsburg earlier in the window.
This term Thauvin has been in brilliant form both domestically and for the France under-21 side, with 12 goals and eight assists in 30 appearances.
Imbula meanwhile is a defensive midfielder who can also play at left-back and is perhaps being touted as a long-term replacement for Michael Essien – who made the Ghana international’s permanent move to AC Milan on Sunday.
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