Chelsea face fresh competition for Lucas Digne transfer as Thomas Tuchel suffers blow

His last match came against Juventus in a 4-0 win – since then the Stamford Bridge outfit have looked flaky with Marcos Alonso coming in and having several wobbly moments.

Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez and Digne have nearly come to blows earlier this month and the defender has been left out of the squad entirely since.

Everton have even already signed his replacement in Ukraine international Vitaliy Mykolenko, where an £18million transfer has reportedly been agreed.

According to transfer guru Alfredo Pedulla, Chelsea are ready to make a move for Digne in January – but they are not alone.

It is also reported that Inter Milan are chasing the Frenchman as they prepare to let Matias Vecino or Aleksandar Kolarov leave.

Simone Inzaghi is keen on snapping up Digne as an ideal replacement while Everton are willing to entertain a loan offer until the end of the season.

That will allow the Toffees to make a more permanent decision in the summer depending on whether or not to sell him.

But Inter are not the only Italian side interested with Napoli also keeping an eye on the 28-year-old.

Faouzi Ghoulam is out of contract at the end of the season and could depart in the winter market to get some sort of fee without losing him for nothing.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are awaiting diagnosis of Chilwell’s injury which could shape their January plans.

The Englishman has been allowed to try recover on his own while an operation would rule him out for the season