Barcelona ‘eyes set on’ Chelsea duo as Deco is ‘very fond of’ £58m star with ‘January loans’ expected

La Liga giants FC Barcelona reportedly have their ‘eyes set on’ Chelsea ahead of the winter transfer window as they are interested in two players.

New head coach Enzo Maresca has an oversized squad to deal with at Chelsea , but he has overseen a promising start to the season. They are unbeaten in the Premier League since their opening day loss against Manchester City and sit fourth after seven matches.

It has not taken long for Maresca to settle on his favoured team and this is impressive considering the number of players he has to choose from.

This also means several players have not featured much and could be available for a transfer during the winter transfer window.

Romeo Lavia was dogged by injuries last season as he only managed to make a single appearance following his £58m move from Southampton.

This season, the defensive midfielder impressed against Chelsea but a hamstring injury has meant he’s only made three appearances across all competitions.

Carney Chukwuemeka meanwhile impressed in fits and starts last season, but his only appearances this term came in the Carabao Cup.

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A report in Spain claims the two Chelsea midfielders are on Barcelona’s radar, as Hansi Flick’s side have been ‘keeping an eye on possible opportunities for January and their eyes are set on’ the Blues.

‘The London club has plenty of players and there will be loans for sure. Deco has always been very fond of Romeo Lavia, a player who was ostracised last season due to injury and who is now not very important in the team.

‘Deco bid for him two summers ago when Southampton were relegated, but he could only bring him on loan and Chelsea ended up paying 60 million. There is also Chukwueneka, the young pearl of Nigerian origin.’

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Chelsea’s positive start to the season has been a surprise as their board have been criticised for their transfer activity in recent windows.

Chelsea sporting director Paul Winstanley has hit out at a “misconception” critics have about the club after they turned down “significant offer for an academy product” in the summer.

“We had a significant offer for one of our academy products this summer that we absolutely chose not to take,” Winstanley admitted.

“There’s a lot of misconception out there. We’ve had two debuts this year. There’s three or four more players in behind who we think we can push through this year as well that we’re keen to do.

“The manager’s on board with that, he’s aware of the players coming through. We give them opportunities when we can to make sure they’ve got that pathway.

“It’s not just about PSR, it’s contractual statuses, it’s circumstances. The two players you referenced [Mount and Gallagher], there were contractual problems that we walked into. It’s really important for us to bring through players.”