Tagliafico only interested in Barcelona; Chelsea to make final push for Emerson — reports

Chelsea has been tenuously linked with Ajax left back Nicolás Tagliafico in recent days, but the 29-year-old has his sights set on Barcelona, and only Barcelona, as per ESPN. Having fallen largely out of favor with just two league starts to his name this season (Daley Blind has been first-choice), it sounds like Ajax just might allow Tagliafico to leave on loan, with an option to turn that into a permanent transfer in the summer.

Despite being linked with the Argentina international repeatedly in the past, including most heavily in the summer of 2020 (when we eventually signed Ben Chilwell), Chelsea don’t appear to be really in this fight right now, with our focus remaining fully on trying to recall Emerson from Lyon.

It would appear that we’ve had at least three such attempts rebuffed, even after reportedly including €4m or so in compensation to get our own player back. While Emerson might be open to giving it another go at Stamford Bridge, Lyon are understandably reluctant and have stood firm. Football.London adds that we’re expected to make “one final” attempt before potentially panicking into a solution or settling for trying out Kenedy.