Chelsea have been offered the chance to rival Tottenham in a January move for Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar.
According to the London Evening Standard, both clubs have been given the opportunity to sign him on loan this month for just £5m.
The report adds that intermediaries working on the player’s future believe he would be open to a move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are in the market for a wide player and have previously been linked with both Wilfried Zaha and Jadon Sancho.
Lemar has struggled in Spain since making the move to Atletico from Monaco, with Diego Simeone saying, via Goal, that the player has failed to live up to expectations.
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Lemar could be an interesting option for Chelsea. Available for a small loan fee of just £5 million, the club could have no complaints about the cost of a short-term move.
The only potential concern for Chelsea should be the lack of game time that Lemar has had this season, with the Frenchman starting just nine league games for Atletico.
With Pedro and Willian both seeing their futures up in the air, it’s certainly a position that Chelsea need to examine this month.
Lemar, who is comfortable playing across the three positions behind the striker, would bring some added versatility to Lampard’s attacking options. The Chelsea manager has made it clear since his arrival that this is a trait he wants to see in the squad, calling for his players to be ‘adaptable’, via the official Chelsea website.
While he mainly operates out on the left, Lemar’s interchangeability could see him fit into Lampard’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system or his more recent 3-4-3 formation with ease.
Much like the Mateo Kovacic signing last season, it would give the Blues the option to see the player in action first for a relatively small fee before committing to a permanent deal later down the line.
