Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has seemingly already lined up a replacement for one of his first-team players axed from the defeat to Fulham on Saturday. The Blues went down to a damaging 2-1 derby loss at the hands of their London rivals at Stamford Bridge, leaving them seven points off leaders Liverpool.

Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto are the only other senior full-back options. Cucurella has played a huge amount of football given Spain’s run to win Euro 2024, while Gusto has picked up plenty of niggles over an impressive 18 months at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have reportedly made a decision over Raheem Sterling ahead of the January transfer window amid his disappointing loan spell at Arsenal. Blues winger Sterling, 30, has failed to make much of an impact on the pitch since joining the Gunners in a temporary switch back in August.