Chelsea 'pushing hard' to sign Serie A midfielder before transfer deadline | OneFootball

Chelsea are reported to be in firm pursuit of Hellas Verona midfielder Reda Belahyane in the final week of the January transfer window.

The Blues have recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his loan at Crystal Palace to provide defensive cover, while a number of players are in various stages of leaving Stamford Bridge this month - including Renato Veiga, Christopher Nkunku, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell.

But there are yet to be any brand new additions to Enzo Maresca's squad. That could change amid rumoured interest in Belahyane, who at just 20 years of age, would be another example of the club scouting and recruiting talent to develop in the long-term.

Gianluca Di Marzio writes that Chelsea are "pushing hard" to land Belahyane, having identified him as a replacement for Cesare Casadei, who is wanted by Lazio.

Cesare Casadei moving on could be crucial to any Belahyane deal / Crystal Pix/MB Media/GettyImages

Casadei has been mostly limited to Conference League minutes this season, starting three times in the group stage, but has hardly even made the bench in the Premier League. His departure is expected regardless of a lack of midfield depth that saw Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall start a league game for the first time as a Chelsea player against Wolves earlier this week.

Maresca was missing both Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia to muscle injuries for that 3-1 win, unable to name a single senior midfielder on the bench.

Di Marzio's report suggest that as soon as Casadei's future is resolved, Chelsea will move forward with a €15m (£12.7m) deal to sign Belahyane.

The talented youngster only moved to Italy last summer when Hellas recruited him from OGC Nice. He has started 15 times in the struggling Serie A team this season at the base of midfield.

Chelsea also remain increasingly linked with Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho, but time to hammer out a potentially complicated deal is fast running out.