Chelsea have been offered a Barcelona star who Spain legend Carles Puyol previously called one of world football’s best in his position, according to a new report.

Chelsea prioritise new centre-back for January transfer window

Enzo Maresca, after seeing his wish for a new centre-back unfulfilled last summer, is in agreement with the Blues that they need to bring one in when the winter window opens.

Chelsea’s lack of options was laid bare during their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge just prior to the international break, with Trevoh Chalobah suspended and missing the clash alongside the injured Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill.

Enzo Fernández

Knee

Unknown

Cole Palmer

Groin

November

Andrey Santos

Knock

Unknown

Dario Essugo

Thigh

Early 2026

Liam Delap

Hamstring

November

Levi Colwill

ACL

Spring 2026

via Standard Sport

While Fofana and Tosin are expected to be available for Chelsea’s Premier League return against Nottingham Forest this weekend, alongside Chalobah, who’s served his one-match suspension after being sent off against Brighton, the centre of defence needs to be solidified with proven quality.

Chelsea tried to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth before the Spaniard’s move to Real Madrid, and internally discussed the possibility of a new centre-back later in the summer after Colwill’s ACL injury.

However, after failing to source the right profile, Chelsea ultimately didn’t move for one, with Maresca and Stamford Bridge chiefs now set to prioritise defensive reinforcements in January (Pete O’Rourke).

Chelsea also wanted another goalkeeper, as evident by their summer talks for AC Milan’s Mike Maignan and links to Gianluigi Donnarumma, with Cobham academy graduate Marc Guehi also mentioned as a BlueCo target for 2026.

Chelsea are believed to be assessing targets right now, and they’ve got their eyes on a few key men from Barcelona.

Chelsea offered Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo

One of them, according to journalist Graeme Bailey, is £208,000-per-week defender Ronald Araujo.

The Uruguay international, who’s captained Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions each time he’s started a game this season, is under contract until 2031 and will likely command a premium price tag.

He’s also not overly keen on leaving Catalonia as things stand either, but Bailey has told TBR Football that Chelsea have been offered the chance to sign Araujo regardless, potentially by Barça themselves, considering their well-documented financial problems.

The 26-year-old was in and out of Flick’s starting eleven last term, and missed the first half of 2024/2025 with a serious hamstring injury.

Despite injuries thwarting his momentum across Flick’s debut campaign as Barcelona boss, Araujo has now worked his way back into being a firm regular, and his top-level experience could be exactly what Chelsea need.

During his time at Barça, Puyol has also lavished Araujo as one of the best centre-backs in world football.