Chelsea transfer news: Maurizio Sarri desperate to land these TWO players in January

The Blues are expected to splash the cash in January in hope of securing a top four finish at the end of the season.

Express Sport understands Chelsea are closing in on Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Christian Pulisic which could free up Eden Hazard to finally make the move to Real Madrid.

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The Blues are ready to pay £45m to beat off competition from Liverpool and Arsenal for the American international.

The 20-year-old playmaker, who has been a Chelsea target since the start of the season, is set move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Chelsea will only consider parting with Hazard who is still stalling on signing a new deal once they have got a replacement signed and sealed.

However, Castles claims the Blues are also in the market for a new centre-back and a centre-forward.

“Chelsea’s sense of jeopardy is magnified by continued uncertainty over Eden Hazard’s future,” Castles wrote in The Times.

“The Belgian is down to the final 18 months of his contract and clearly fancies a move to Real Madrid.

“Although Hazard has verbally committed to seeing out the season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea could lose their most important player in the same summer that the threatened Fifa ban begins.

“One potential replacement [for Hazard] is Christian Pulisic, the young United States international who is running down his deal at Borussia Dortmund.

“Chelsea have been courting Pulisic for more than a year, but face some stiff competition from, among others, Bayern Munich.

“They also have other areas of their squad to address as the impact of Sarri’s tactics diminishes, and the Italian wants new blood at centre-forward and centre-back.”

Sarri is keen to land a new striker in January with Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud struggling to impress.

A new centre-half could slot in alongside Antonio Rudiger at Stamford Bridge, with David Luiz likely to lose his spot if a deal goes through.

Chelsea are back in action on Wednesday evening against Southampton in the Premier League (7:45pm kick off).