Chelsea 'really, really want' to sign £42m star at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea really want to sign Paris-Saint Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe this summer, according to journalist Dean Jones.

Thomas Tuchel managed the 26-year-old during his time as PSG boss and now appears to be keen on a reunion at Stamford Bridge.

The Daily Mail recently reported that Chelsea have made a £40m bid for Kimpembe.

According to the newspaper, PSG want £42m for their defender, so a deal certainly looks more than possible.

The west London club completed the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli over the weekend, but Tuchel still needs another centre-back having lost both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

In fact, with Cesar Azpilicueta’s future currently in doubt, the German may need to bring in an additional name on top of Kimpembe, with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde being another defensive target who has been identified.

Jones has told GIVEMESPORT that Chelsea are desperate to bring Kimpembe to Stamford Bridge but still need to convince the Frenchman, who has been described as a “leader” by his current manager.

Speaking to GMS, the transfer insider said: “Kimpembe is a guy that they really, really want. At the moment, they’re not convinced, wholly, that he wants to leave PSG, and you can understand that.”

Given that Tuchel is trying to sign two more central defenders to go with the addition of Koulibaly, you would expect him to continue using a back three this upcoming season.

With that in mind, if the Chelsea boss gets all of his centre-back targets this transfer window, Blues supporters could see a central defence consisting of Kimpembe, Koulibaly and Kounde.

Kimpembe, who is left-footed, would be expected to operate on the left, Kounde could play on the other side, while Koulibaly may replace Thiago