Chelsea 'make transfer decision over AC Milan-linked defender'

The former Monaco man has endured a difficult transition period since moving to England midway through the 2022-23 season, signing a seven-and-a-half-year deal with the Blues.

Badiashile has been restricted to just 24 outings for the West London giants in all tournaments, scoring twice and providing one assist, and injuries have not helped his cause in the English capital.

Owing to hamstring, muscular and groin issues, the 23-year-old has turned out just 13 times for Mauricio Pochettino's men in the current campaign, including just seven Premier League starts.

However, one of those seven came in Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Burnley, where he was selected to partner ex-Monaco teammate Axel Disasi, although the day ended in bitter disappointment for the Blues.

Chelsea, Badiashile in agreement over future

Badiashile - who has also played as a left-back for Chelsea - was tipped to return to Ligue 1 on loan with Lyon during the January transfer window amid his struggles for game time, but a move did not materialise.

Heading into the summer window, Italian heavyweights AC Milan are thought to be monitoring the situation and could make an approach for the centre-back if his playing situation under Pochettino does not improve.

However, football.london claims that Chelsea have no plans to let Badiashile leave ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, and the Frenchman is also not interested in leaving the Premier League club just yet.

Milan have supposedly had their eye on the France Under-21 international for a while, but both Chelsea and Badiashile want to prolong their partnership, and the defender has still looked back on his first months at the club fondly despite his injury problems.

While Badiashile's time at Chelsea will not be coming to an end this summer, Pochettino - or whoever is in the dugout - is expected to oversee a defensive rejig, with players at both end of the age spectrum set to be moved on.

Badiashile stays but duo expected to depart

Badiashile's bid to return to the Chelsea XI has been helped by Thiago Silva's slide down the pecking order, and the 39-year-old has now been an unused substitute in the Blues' last three Premier League games.

The former AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain defender is also out of contract in the summer, and a return to Brazil has been strongly mooted for Silva, who will turn 40 in September.

The president of Fluminense, whom Silva had two separate spells with, has claimed that the 39-year-old will indeed be departing Chelsea when his deal expires in June, although Silva has stressed that he is relaxed about his future.

As well as the South American veteran, Trevoh Chalobah is believed to be another name on the chopping block amid an injury-riddled campaign, in which he has made just three appearances in the top flight.

The 24-year-old did start back-to-back games against Brentford and Newcastle United last month, but he missed the draw with Burnley owing to another fitness setback.