Chelsea's transfer twist! New Jeremy Jacquet plan revealed as Blues look to beat rivals to €60m-rated defender

Jacquet has emerged as a target for Chelsea after catching the eye with his performances in France for Rennes. The defender is believed to be eager to make the move to Stamford Bridge and has already agreed personal terms with the Premier League side. Rosenior has been asked about the possibility of Jacquet joining Chelsea but refused to comment on the current speculation that his club are closing in on the defender. Ahead of Chelsea's Champions League tie with Pafos, he told reporters: "I don’t speak about players at other clubs. Until something is agreed then I think it is so disrespectful. Whether it is true or not. I will speak about it at the right time.”

Chelsea have now come up with a new plan to land Jacquet, according to RMC Sport. The Blues want to sign the defender in January and then loan him straight back to Rennes for the rest of the season. Chelsea are expected to make an initial offer of €50 million (£43m), although Rennes are holding out for €60m (£52m). In a bid to help the transfer go through, Chelsea have now recalled David Datro Fofana from a temporary spell in Turkey to free up a loan spot.

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Rennes head coach Habib Beye has been asked about Jacquet and made it clear he's hoping the club can keep hold of their young star. He told reporters: "I believe that today he is a very important player for our objectives. If tomorrow we were to let him go, we would have to lower our expectations. When you have offers from such a club, it can make things a little hesitant. I’m very firm on this situation. He is an essential player for us. He is one of the best players in our team and so we have to resist that approach. There are several factors I don’t control in all of this. We’ll see what happens in the coming days."

As Chelsea consider their defensive options, Rosenior has now recalled Axel Disasi to first-team training. The defender has been part of the club's infamous 'bomb squad' but was back with his team-mates at the training ground ahead of Wednesday's Champions League outing. Rosenior explained why Disasi is now back in the frame: "I had a really good meeting with (Disasi) a couple of days ago. I wanted to catch up with him, see where he was in terms of his career. I said to the players when I came in, it’s a clean slate for everybody. So it was only right for me to have a conversation with him. Really good conversation. I got to know him really, really well. It was the right thing to be back involved with the group. Because of the situation he’s been in, he’s behind in terms of his match fitness. We’ll keep working with him really, really hard to get him up to speed." Disasi has not featured for Chelsea for 12 months, with his last outing coming against Wolves in January 2025.

Chelsea will hope to get a deal for Jacquet completed in January, although it seems fans may have to wait until next season to catch a glimpse of the highly-rated defender. In the meantime, Chelsea are preparing to welcome Pafos to Stamford Bridge, with Rosenior set to take charge of a Champions League match for the first time in his career.