24 year old wanted by Barcelona is Chelsea’s alternate option for defence | OneFootball

There has been a lot of talk about Chelsea signing a centre back in recent weeks.

Just this afternoon, we reported that on the rumours that Enzo Maresca had “convinced” the Chelsea board to make a January move for a defender, with Joel Ordonez the player they mentioned as most likely.

However there are other options on the radar.

Chelsea chase 24 year old defender for January deal

Strahinja Pavlovic playing for Serbia.

CaughtOffside claim that AC Milan defender Strahinja Pavlovic is another player that the Blues are looking at. The 24 year old has become a target after showing his exceptional abilities. We were linked to him in the summer of 2024, but nothing came of it.

“The defender could cost around €60-70 million. He is thought to be on the radar of Barcelona as well,” they write.

” AC Milan will not want to lose an important player like him, but they could be persuaded to sell the player if there is a suitable offer on the table. In addition to that, the defender could be attracted to the idea of moving to the Premier League,” they continue.

We’re sure he would be – but how much would he cost? He’s an integral part of the team that Max Allegri is trying to take back to the top of Serie A. €70m is just too much to pay for a player who we can’t guarantee is an upgrade.

Pavlovic probably not the jump in quality Blues are looking for

In the end, we can all see that the two things this Chelsea team lack most right now are a super reliable goalkeeper and an elite central defender.

Pavlovic looks like a really good player, but does he look like he’s a whole tier above the likes of Levi Colwill or Benoit Badiashile? Probably not. We’d rather keep our powder dry until someone with world class pedigree is available.