Chelsea have had scouts at the Qatar World Cup and one of the players that has caught their eye has bene Ecuador defender Piero Hinchapie.
The youngster is currently playing his club football in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen, and his form there has seen a number of other clubs across Europe track his progress, including London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham.
However, with the knowledge that Thiago Silva is now 38, the Stamford Bridge club are already beginning to plan for life after the Brazilian, and may be ready to make a move for Hinchapie sober rather than later.
Leverkusen are reconciled to losing the player at some stage, and, having failed to qualify for trhe knock-out stages of the Champions League, are expecting bids for him when the January transfer window opens.
Hichapie began his career in his native country before a spell in Argentina with Talleres. He only made the move to Europe in 2021 but has since flourished and may now be ready for a move to a big club.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.