Sources: Chelsea monitoring Ryan Bertrand and Patrick van Aanholt
Both former Chelsea players are out of contract in the summer, and The Blues are keeping any eye on their situations
Chelsea are keeping an eye on the situations of former players Ryan Bertrand and Patrick van Aanholt, SPTC sources understands.
Bertrand’s contract with Southampton ends this summer and he is free to receive offers from other clubs.
Chelsea are yet to make an offer for the 31-year old, but they are considering a move to bring him back to Stamford Bridge, with Arsenal also being linked.
Bertrand was one of Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League hero’s, playing left midfield for the iconic win in Munich that night, putting in the shift of his life.
Meanwhile, van Aanholt is also a former Chelsea player now plying his trade with Crystal Palace.
His contract also runs out this summer and his situation is identical to Bertrand’s.
The 30-year old left back joined the Chelsea academy in 2007 from PSV and stayed at the club until 2014.
His chances at Chelsea were very limited, so he made a permanent switch to Sunderland to get first team football and has since had a solid career.
Chelsea could lose both Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri within the next two transfer windows, so the club are exploring the option to bring either of the above player in on a free transfer to provide competition to Ben Chilwell.
They like the fact that both players have played for the club before, have vast Premier League experience, and are both still playing to a very good standard.
Whether either player would like to return and prepare to largely be a backup to Chilwell remains to be seen, but it is something under consideration for now with no offers yet on the table from Chelsea for either player.