Chelsea exploring shock playmaker signing that could be Palmer 2.0 or another Buonanotte | OneFootball

Chelsea are actively looking into the ‘surprising’ signing of an under-used playmaker who could be on the move in January just six months after changing clubs.

Chelsea struck gold when signing Cole Palmer from Manchester City two-and-a-half years ago. City weren’t thrilled at the thought of losing Palmer, but the player pushed to leave after it became apparent opportunities in the first-team would be limited at the Etihad.

Fast forward to the present day and Palmer is one of England’s best attackers, and the £42.5m Chelsea paid will go down as one of the biggest bargains in Premier League history.

At the other end of the spectrum, Chelsea swooped for Brighton playmaker, Facundo Buonanotte, last summer in a loan deal that came out of left field.

The young Argentine has promise, but his impact at Stamford Bridge so far can only be described as negligible.

Indeed, he’s been afforded just a single appearance in the Premier League so far and clearly isn’t doing enough behind the scenes to convince Enzo Maresca. Most weeks he doesn’t even make the matchday squad.

Yet despite Chelsea’s abundance of riches in the No 10 position – they also have Estevao in situ and Joao Pedro can play there too – the Blues are now looking into a move for Nottingham Forest playmaker, James McAtee.

The 23-year-old left Man City last summer in a deal that could be worth up to £30m. But unlike Palmer who soared when he left City, McAtee’s career has since stalled.

He’s largely been unused by all three of Forest’s managers this season and has racked up just 428 minutes of action across all competitions.

The Daily Mail state Chelsea are one of five clubs exploring whether McAtee is available for transfer in January.

Chelsea are by far the biggest of the five clubs, with the others being Leeds United, Bournemouth, Fulham and Sunderland.

Chelsea’s interest in McAtee was termed ‘surprising’ by the report, though is further indication of Chelsea always being on the lookout for talented young players who would benefit from a change of scenery.

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