At the weekend, Chelsea will be looking to find a way past William Saliba when they welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge in a top-of-the-table clash in the Premier League. If the Blues are able to win, the title race will be well and truly on. If they lost, this would start to look like a one-horse race in England. They are coming into this game on the back of wins over Barcelona and Bayern Munich, respectively, so the confidence is going to be high for both sides.
One would have to consider Arsenal the favourites though. Mikel Arteta's side will be a very different proposition to Barcelona. They have the best defence in all of football, and even without Gabriel, they have not faced many problems.
On the other hand, Chelsea will be without Cole Palmer once again, the player on their team who is most capable of unlocking such sturdy defences. Of course, Levi Colwill's absence has left them weak on the other end of the pitch.
Chelsea could certainly do with the kind of defenders that Arsenal have. And it looks like they have set their eyes on a player dubbed the 'next Saliba', although he is wanted by several other top Premier League clubs, including their London rivals.
Chelsea want to sign €40m centre-back dubbed 'next Salba'
As reported by CaughtOffside, Jeremy Jacquet has impressed Manchester United scouts while also being on the radar of Arsenal as well. Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace could also be in for Rennes defender.
Jacquet is 20 years of age and already a regular starter for Rennes, a club with a reputation for developing some of the best players in the world, including current Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele. It is believed that the French club will want a transfer fee in the region of €30 million to €40 million for the defender.
Now, it remains to be seen if Chelsea end up making a serious push to sign Jacquet or not. Even if they do, the competition is going to be very tough.
Most fans would like to see a more established and proven name being brought in to give the defence an immediate boost and potentially turn them into genuine title contenders. That being said, the club's transfer policy is now starting to produce results and people might start to doubt their decisions a lot less as a result of it.