Chelsea urged to follow Arsenal's approach with William Saliba with incoming defender

The Blues are close to securing the 21-year-old defender Monaco defender after the two clubs agreed a £33million fee for the Frenchman.

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Badiashile has reportedly completed his medical and is set to pen a six-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Boss Graham Potter is currently light in defence following the exits of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger in the summer, while £75m signing Wesley Fofana has been sidelined with a knee injury.

But with the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah at his disposal and Fofana nearing a return, Badiashile could see his game time significantly reduced upon his arrival in west London.

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A fully fit backline would provide strong competition for places with no guarantee that Badiashile would be a regular starter.

France-based football correspondent Jonathan Johnson believes Chelsea should contemplate Arsenal's example with Saliba which could help Badiashile's long-term development.

Saliba signed for the Gunners in 2019 from Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne but was sent back on loan to France for the next three seasons. He made his return to the Emirates last summer with his reputation enhanced after a superb season at Marseille.

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His return to the Arsenal set-up has been a seamless integration with Saliba playing a key part in the club's rise to the top of the Premier League table and huge opportunity to land a first Premier League title since 2004.

"Personally, I think that he has the makings of a good Premier League defender," Johnson told football.london.

"However, I do not think that he is as ready as William Saliba was when he returned to Arsenal. Chelsea might be wise to consider loaning Badiashile back to a Ligue 1 club for at least the remainder of the season before inserting him into the rotation.

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"I see little to no value adding him to the squad where his pathway to minutes will almost certainly be blocked. The sort of consistency he needs to acquire to eliminate those mistakes will only come with regular game time."

Badiashile's potential is in no doubt but Johnson says expectation should be kept to a minimum particularly in the early stages. If Chelsea manage his development, then Johnson sees no reason why in the future, the Monaco man proves to be a bargain buy.

Johnson added: "[Badiashile is] definitely one for the future. I would be surprised if he gets regular starts early on unless there are a number of injuries in central defence.

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"In fact, if he was to start immediately, there is a risk that the pressure of expectation might be too high which could complicate his development at Stamford Bridge. I certainly think another half season and perhaps even next campaign in France would better aid his growth," Johnson continued.

"It certainly has the potential to look like a shrewd buy in the future, but it is not a signing that I expect to immediately look like a bargain."

"Badiashile still needs to work and the big question is whether or not Chelsea are currently set up to get the best out of players like that and to start adding value to young gems."