Chelsea are edging towards making a move for Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, according to the Daily Telegraph‘s Matt Law.

The journalist, who has good sources when it comes to the Blues, believes that the European champions are considering switching targets away from West Ham’s Declan Rice in order to sign Tchouameni instead:

“It feels like Tchouameni would be the sort of cheaper option than Declan Rice. Whether that makes him option A, let’s see. But I certainly think, at the moment, there’s a direction of travel that is quite positive in terms of Chelsea and Tchouameni.”

Tchouameni won’t exactly be cheap. Monaco have reportedly slapped a €50m (£42m) price tag on the 21-year-old but Rice would likely cost over double that amount.

The likes of Manchester United and Liverpool have also been linked with the France international but Law believes that Chelsea would have an advantage over other teams.

Tchouameni and Jules Kounde have the same representative and it is believed that the London club do have a good relationship with the agent after holding discussions with him before the deal with Sevilla collapsed in the summer.

With the priority for the January transfer window being a wingback, though, a bid for Tchouameni may only happen in the summer.