Rosenior ‘unconvinced’ as Chelsea are ‘offered’ golden chance to sign Man Utd linked midfield star | OneFootball

Chelsea are another club being offered the opportunity to sign Ruben Neves during the current transfer window, sources confirm, while the sacked Enzo Maresca is being proved right as dilemmas emerge at Stamford Bridge.

Liam Rosenior has stepped in to replace Maresca and won his first game in charge – a 5-1 victory in the FA Cup against Charlton Athletic – but suffered a defeat on Wednesday, with the Blues losing 3-2 to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

The club are willing to back their new manager with additions this month and Al-Hilal star Neves, formerly of Wolves, has emerged as a potential option.

The midfielder has been linked as a potential target for Manchester United, who are understood to be exploring options to bolster their squad while Michael Carrick oversees the team on an interim basis until the end of the season.

However, sources have revealed that Neves has also been presented to Chelsea, underlining the uncertainty surrounding his future and suggesting that any move to Old Trafford would still require work.

The 63-time capped Portugal international is believed to be open to a return to the Premier League, confident that his experience and tactical strengths would allow him to make an immediate impact.

The 28-year-old would bring leadership and a proven track record at the top level, but Chelsea are yet to be convinced that signing him would be the right move.

Chelsea unsure on Neves as Maresca-era concerns remain

Chelsea, however, are thought to be unlikely to pursue a deal for Neves at this stage, even though there is an awareness internally that an additional midfield option could ease the workload on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez during a demanding second half of the campaign.

For now, Neves’ own situation remains fluid, with his availability clearly becoming known across the league – and Newcastle another side to have been kept in the loop.

Chelsea have other priorities this month, and what’s clear is that their situation is starting to look exactly as Enzo Maresca saw it to be.

His concerns with the squad continue to be felt. He had worries about goalkeeper situation, and now we are seeing that Filip Jorgensen might become available for transfer this month and Robert Sanchez made big errors in the loss to Arsenal.

Maresca also very much wanted a centre-back and there are new reports saying that Chelsea are looking to sign someone in this window. That is exactly what he would have been hoping if he was still in charge.

Recently, we reported on the interest in Rennes centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, and that Chelsea knew they would have to move quick to land him. That could very much linked to the new urgency they are showing in the market.

Graeme Bailey has reported how Arsenal are also in the picture for Jacquet so that will be a tricky deal.

Chelsea could be forced into striker market

The other worry Maresca had was in the striker position and we have just seen, again, how Chelsea have been left a bit short in the position when Delap has fallen ill.

So all the concerns Maresca had, and part of that friction that existed, remains to be seen as a genuine issue that the club are having to deal with.

The combativeness he showed over transfers is not the only reason he lost his job, but I do think it’s interesting that those particular concerns are already coming to light and that Chelsea may well look to fix all of them across this window and the next one.