Contact made: Chelsea willing to hold talks with Barcelona over midfielder transfer | OneFootball

Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka is reportedly attracting transfer interest from Barcelona, according to Blues journalist Simon Phillips.

Chukwuemeka has struggled for playing time at Chelsea recently, and it perhaps makes sense that his future is now in some doubt as he’ll surely want to be getting on the pitch more and developing his game at this important stage of his career.

If a big name like Barcelona comes calling, it’s also not likely to be easy to say no, with Phillips explaining that some contact has already been made and that Chelsea could be willing to negotiate a deal.

It’s important to clarify, however, that Phillips believes Chelsea would not be willing to negotiate a loan, so will look to offload Chukwuemeka permanently, which just further shows that the England youth international is not in Enzo Maresca’s long-term plans.

Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Carney Chukwuemeka transfer: Will the Chelsea youngster head to Barcelona?

Chukwuemeka has long been rated highly within the game, so it’s not too surprising that a big name like Barca seem keen on him, and one imagines other big clubs could also enter the conversation if he really is made available this January.

Some CFC supporters might be disappointed, however, that Chukwuemeka has not been given more of a chance, as this project is meant to be one devoted to trusting and developing young talents like this.

Chukwuemeka could surely still have a fine career ahead of him, and perhaps leaving Chelsea now would be good for him, with a lot of young English players doing well in recent times to swap the Premier League for a move abroad.

There have been a few examples of those at Chelsea, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham rebuilding their careers in Italy, so Chukwuemeka could well find he’s able to do something similar if he gets an offer of more playing time at the Nou Camp.