---
title: "Chelsea: Benoit Badiashile now priority signing at centre-back"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/chelsea-benoit-badiashile-transfer-news/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dominic Lund"
section: "Chelsea News"
published: "2022-12-26T11:05:38Z"
modified: "2022-12-26T11:05:38Z"
---

# Chelsea: Benoit Badiashile now priority signing at centre-back

**[Chelsea](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/chelsea-fc-news/) have now identified AS Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile as their priority signing as a left-sided centre-back, according to a report from [The Athletic](https://theathletic.com/4023732/2022/12/24/chelsea-transfers-benoit-badiashile/).**

### The Lowdown: Chelsea targeting defender

The Blues signed Kalidou Koulibaly for [£33m](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12651214/kalidou-koulibaly-chelsea-complete-deal-for-napoli-centre-back) in the summer, but it appears as though the [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) club are already planning to cut their losses on the defender after he has failed to hit the ground running, albeit from a relatively brief timeframe.

[Calciomercato](https://www.calciomercato.com/news/chelsea-koulibaly-puo-partire-11258) reported on Friday that the Senegal international could be on his way back to Italy, duly paving the way for Chelsea to bring in a new signing in his position, with Badiashile now deemed to fit the bill.

### The Latest: Badiashile in Potter’s sights

Given that Josko Gvardiol’s price has risen considerably since the World Cup – he is now [expected](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/24/gakpo-to-gvardiol-how-the-january-window-is-looking-for-transfer-targets?CMP=share_btn_tw) to cost more than £79m – [Graham Potter](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tag/graham-potter/) has started to turn his attention elsewhere in terms of signings for January and next summer, as per a report from [The Athletic](https://theathletic.com/4023732/2022/12/24/chelsea-transfers-benoit-badiashile/)‘s David Ornstein on Saturday afternoon which was shared on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1606688944682328068).

The report details that Badiashile is now the manager’s priority target, and there is a belief that the Frenchman will sign for the Blues in the coming weeks for a fee of around £30m.

### The Verdict: Better than Koulibaly?

Journalist Amr Shaheen has previously lauded the 6 foot 4 defender as a ‘[monster](https://twitter.com/ASpro333/status/1375184891046985739?s=20&t=ktdD7o5dzeuNmLm6d7gwYQ)‘, and this is evidenced by his fantastic performances for Monaco over the past year, averaging [2.63](https://fbref.com/en/players/06df8256/Benoit-Badiashile) aerial duels won per 90 minutes, an increase on the [2.08](https://fbref.com/en/players/da974c7b/Kalidou-Koulibaly) per game averaged by Koulibaly in the same timeframe.

At just 21, the Frenchman still has plenty of scope to develop and he could be a mainstay in the Chelsea defence for years to come, whereas Koulibaly is 31 and likely approaching the end of his peak years.

For a relatively low price of £30m, signing Badiashile would be a really good piece of business from Potter if he goes through with it, leaving him with further funds to strengthen elsewhere in January.