Chelsea are rapidly losing faith in two of their higher profile defenders, and TEAMtalk understands Manchester City are ready to move for one of the pair.

Put simply, Chelsea’s defence is a shambles. The Blues have spent vast sums on those in situ, with Malo Gusto, Marco Palestra, Wesley Fofana, Maxence Lacroix and Jorrel Hato all arriving for big money as far as defenders go.

Whether it’s Xabi Alonso’s tactics or whether it’s the personnel that is the problem is open to debate. In any case, the end result is Chelsea have shipped 15 goals in just eight Premier League matches this season, and 19 in 11 games when factoring in League Cup matches too.

According to the latest from Flashscore reporter, Dean Jones, the Blues are now giving consideration to calling time on the Chelsea careers of Gusto and Fofana.

Buth players struggled at Anfield on Wednesday night despite Liverpool not starting the game with any of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola, Hugo Ekitike or Alexander Isak in their line-up.

Gusto has been in and out of the team this season, with Pedro Neto generally preferred at right wing-back.

And per Jones, ‘the concerns stretch beyond one disappointing performance’.

Accordingly, the reporter stated Chelsea are now actively exploring the market for a new right-back/right wing-back.

Man City could break transfer world record for right-backs

That will be music to the ears of Manchester City, who seemingly don’t share Chelsea’s concerns over the France international. Nor do Liverpool who made a loan bid for Gusto on deadline day in the summer window.

Our insider, Graeme Bailey, recently brought news of Man City lining up a big-money move for Gusto in January.

Of course, Bailey stressed any move hinges on City still being able to spend after appealing the guilty verdict on 114 of their 115 FFP charges.

Chelsea have lowered their £75m asking price for Gusto, though the world record transfer for a right-back is some way below at £57m (Achraf Hakimi to PSG).

Sources told us a move would cost at least £50m, and depending on how hard of a bargain Chelsea drive, Gusto could become the world’s most expensive right-back if sealing a switch to City.

The other player Jones claimed Chelsea are considering ditching is Fofana, who cost £75m (add-ons included) when arriving from Leicester.

That is the same price Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk, and it’s fair to say Fofana hasn’t made one percent of the impact at Stamford Bridge as Van Dijk has at Anfield.

Jones declared: ‘Fofana is also facing an uncertain future.

‘Our sources have revealed that the centre-back is in danger of losing his place at Chelsea in 2027, with the club continuing to assess how they can upgrade figures within the back line.’