Chelsea have entered the race to sign Manchester City target Mouctar Diakhaby and will continue to monitor the Lyon defender’s progress, reports The Daily Mail.
City and Juventus have already been heavily linked with a move for the 20-year-old and have even had scouts watch his performances during Lyon’s Europa League campaign.
Diakhaby only broke into the Lyon first-team last season but is quickly attracting plenty of suitors and will only continue to do so with more impressive performances.
Pep Guardiola is keen to revisit City’s need for another centre-back after failing to sign one over the summer, but can now expect stiff competition for Diakhaby from Chelsea.
The defending Premier League champions are also interested in revitalising their defensive options and the need might be more pressing after Antonio Conte sensationally dropped David Luiz against Manchester United last weekend.
Depending on Luiz and Conte’s relationship, Chelsea may need to strengthen as early as January and the Blues have earmarked Diakhaby as a potential long-term solution.
The Lyon No.5 has only made two starts in Ligue 1 this season and has almost played in as many minutes in the Europa League (180) as he has in the league (199). The France U21 international is Lyon’s highest rated centre-back in European competition this term (7.21).
