Chelsea have already chosen Thiago Silva as their successor following a painful transfer decision.

Chelsea revealed on Monday that Thiago Silva will be departing the club at the end of the season. While it was hardly a shock to anyone, Silva addressed an emotional message to Blues supporters after opting to end his almost four-year spell at Stamford Bridge. At 39 years old, though, this day has been coming for quite a while and Chelsea have not waited around for it to come, it seems.

The club have been exploring the transfer market for a long now for alternative centre-back possibilities to replace Silva when he does end his job in west London at the end of his contract. Chelsea have looked at — and scouted closely – Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP.

The 20-year-old is largely considered as one of the top center defenders of his age in European football. Diomande still has almost three years remaining to run on his contract with the Portuguese club but there is believed to be an anticipation at the Estadio Jose Avalade that there would be interest and potentially offers for the Ivorian this summer.

Arsenal and Liverpool have too been connected alongside Chelsea. There are suggestions Diomande has a £68million release clause in his contract at Sporting but Chelsea would attempt and sign him for far less than that should their interest develop to a bid in the forthcoming summer transfer window.

Marc Guehi, the man who was sold by Chelsea to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021 for roughly £18million, is also a target for the Blues. Chelsea have monitored Guehi and his improvement since arriving to Selhurst Park and he remains an option ahead of the summer.

Chelsea do not have a repurchase option in Guehi’s contract at Palace but the Blues have first refusal, meaning they will be able to match any offers that comes in elsewhere for the England international defender. Before Guehi quit Stamford Bridge, football.london understands Chelsea offered the defender fresh offers on a new contract but he refused since he did not want to be loaned out once again – a cycle many Blues players go through.

Meanwhile, Jean-Clair Todibo was being looked at by Chelsea in January but football.london understands interest in the Nice defender has since cooled. The 24-year-old has also been linked with a move to Manchester United and AC Milan.

Chelsea will be hoping they can bring back Wesley Fofana as soon as possible. The 23-year-old defender has been missing since last summer after he injured his anterior cruciate ligament.