Jeremy Jacquet is reportedly holding out for a transfer move to Chelsea despite strong interest from several top teams this January.
Chelsea have been pushing to strengthen at centre-back before the transfer deadline and identified Jacquet as their primary goal having scouted the 20-year-old for a while.
Jacquet, having fun with only his second full season as an expert, is widely regarded to be amongst essentially the most promising young defenders in French football and was heavily linked with Arsenal last summer.
Chelsea have since moved ahead of Arsenal because the frontrunners to secure a deal for Jacquet and widespread reports earlier this month claimed the Club World Cup winners had agreed personal terms with the teenager.
Nonetheless, the Blues have up to now come up short of their attempts to strike a take care of Rennes over an appropriate transfer fee for Jacquet.
It’s understood there’s a reluctance inside Chelsea’s hierarchy to splash out in excess of £50million for Jacquet – but this might change if Rennes refuse to budge on their valuation, believed to be within the region of £56m.
Rennes have also been determined to maintain hold of Jacquet until the summer. Subsequently, it’s a possibility that Chelsea could sign the France Under-21 international this winter, before immediately loaning him back to his current employers for the rest of the season.
Get your football fix
Don’t desire to miss the week’s biggest football stories? Metro’s exclusive football newsletter, In The Mixer, is your essential guide.
From the newest transfer rumours and managerial moves to evaluation of the most important games and rather a lot more, our experts have you ever covered.
Enroll here, it’s an open goal.
An absence of progress in discussions between Chelsea and Rennes has given the likes of Bayern Munich and Liverpool that each one hope shouldn’t be lost and there could still be a window of opportunity to land the sought-after centre-half.
Crucially, though, Jacquet has privately ‘expressed a preference’ to finish a switch to Stamford Bridge, in response to Sky Sports, which is prone to be a decisive think about determining what the long run holds for the Rennes star.
Jacquet’s current contract with Rennes runs through to June 2029.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an internet
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Facing the media last week, Rennes head coach Habib Beye made it clear he didn’t wish to lose ‘among the best players’ in his team on the midway point of the campaign.
‘I imagine that today he’s a vital player for our objectives,’ Beye told reporters when asked if Jacquet may very well be on his way out of the club.
‘If tomorrow we were to let him go, we might must lower our expectations.
‘When you may have offers from such a club, it could make things slightly hesitant.
‘I’m very firm on this case. He’s an important player for us.’
While Beye called on Rennes to ‘resist’ all proposals for Jacquet, he was unable to definitively rule out the likelihood that the Frenchman may very well be on the move.
‘He’s among the best players in our team and so we’ve to withstand that approach,’ the ex-Newcastle and Aston Villa full-back added.
‘There are several aspects I don’t control in all of this. We’ll see what happens in the approaching days.’
In keeping with Beye, it might be ‘useful’ for everybody involved – including Chelsea – for Jacquet to remain put the time being and proceed his development with Rennes.
‘The ability I actually have is to talk over with him and tell him what I believe of him at Stade Rennais, what I believe of his development,’ he went on.
‘I do know where he desires to go in his profession. I believe that today, I’m contributing, we’re all contributing as a staff to assist him progress, to the purpose where he’s now being targeted by his best clubs.
‘In five months, he’ll be much more achieved, and so, [if he stays] it could be useful for everybody, for the club, for Jeremy, and for the club that may come on the lookout for him.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Scott McTominay sends message to Michael Carrick after Manchester United beat Arsenal
MORE: Danny Murphy backs Chelsea star to ‘succeed’ Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United
MORE: Footage reveals what sparked Harry Maguire row with Gabriel Magalhaes after Arsenal defeat to Manchester United