Approaches made: Chelsea have asked about signing Brighton duo

Chelsea have reportedly made enquiries about two Brighton players as we edge closer to the end of the January transfer window, according to Simon Phillips.

The Blues are said to have asked Brighton about both Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba, but it seems the answer has been a firm ‘no’ from the Seagulls on both potential deals.

Chelsea have done well to raid Brighton in recent times, bringing in Moises Caicedo as a star addition to their midfield, though Robert Sanchez has been less impressive.

In fact, Brighton often tend to sell their star names, with others like Alexis Mac Allister and Marc Cucurella also among those to earn big moves in recent times. Chelsea also hired Graham Potter from there, though he couldn’t repeat his success at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea trying to raid Brighton again but may need a Plan B

Rutter and Baleba have performed well this season so could be the next two big names to watch, but for now Chelsea have been unsuccessful in trying to sign the pair.

CFC could do with making some changes to their squad before the end of January, with Enzo Maresca looking like he needs some upgrades to a few under-performing players.

The west London giants spent big once again in the summer, bringing in the likes of Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix among others, but it’s yet to really get the team back to where they want to be.

Maresca made a decent start at Chelsea, but recent results have been less good, so it’s easy to see why they looked at Rutter and Baleba as players who could give them something different.

Brighton won’t want to keep on selling too many of their best players, though, and for now it seems they’ve made it clear they’re keeping these two key names for a while longer.