Chelsea still trying to recall Emerson Palmieri from Lyon after their first offer of €4m gets rejected

Chelsea have had a second bid to recall Emerson Palmieri from loan rejected. The player joined Lyon in the summer, after it was clear that he wouldn’t be in the plans of Thomas Tuchel for the season. 

But, Ben Chilwell’s season ending injury has left the Blues short-staffed in the left-back position. Currently, Marcos Alonso is the only natural player in the position with the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic being deployed in wing-back positions to compensate. 

Emerson Palmieri return – the priority for Chelsea 

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea’s priority is to recall Emerson from his loan spell at Lyon. The European Champions were being linked with a transfer for Lucas Digne, but that has now been ruled out.

Chelsea had offered a €4 million compensation package to the Ligue 1 club for the left-back. But, they had both their advances rejected for their top priority transfer target. 

Thomas Tuchel’s side also has a couple of backup options that they can turn to. According to the Daily Mail, Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong and Barcelona’s Sergino Dest have been rumoured as potential Plan Bs that they can go for. 

Reece James is also out for a few weeks, and Chelsea will have to deal with his absence on the right side as well. Dujon Sterling could be another loanee that Chelsea could recall, but they have been given a deadline until the end of the week to recall the player.