CHELSEA are hoping to offload some of their fringe players to Portugal, according to reports.
Unlike the rest of Europe, the transfer window in Portugal does not close until midnight UK time on Tuesday, meaning Chelsea have a few more hours to trim their bloated squad.
Chelsea were hoping to offload Emerson Palmieri before the end of the transfer window
Portuguese champions Porto have confirmed the signing of Blues newcomer Malang Sarr on loan while the Mail claims they have also shown interest in Emerson Palmieri.
Defender Sarr joined Chelsea this summer on a free transfer from French side Nice but is seen as one for the future.
Porto are a left-back short after Alex Telles completed a £15million move to Manchester United yesterday.
However their interest in Emerson may have waned with the arrival of Sarr, who is also capable of playing at left-back.
Porto have already secured the signing of West Ham forward Felipe Anderson on a season-long loan.
The window also remains open in the Netherlands where Chelsea are trying to tie up another loan spell for midfielder Marco van Ginkel at PSV.
After spending around £230m on new signings, Chelsea’s attention turned to shifting some of their dead wood in the closing days of the transfer window.
The Blues were able to agree a loan deal with Napoli for Tiemoue Bakayoko on deadline day, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek was also sent to London rivals Fulham.
Chelsea also found clubs for Michy Batshuayi, Davide Zappacosta, Kenedy and Ross Barkley, but Emerson, and the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Victor Moses, Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger all remain.
The domestic transfer window remains open until October 16 meaning those players could join Championship or EFL clubs before then.
Other options include Russia, where the transfer window closes a day later on October 17, or the MLS, where the deadline is October 29.
Rudiger has reportedly vowed to force his way back into manager Frank Lampard’s plans and he will be joined by Fikayo Tomori, who turned down a last-minute loan to West Ham to stay and fight for a place in Chelsea’s starting XI.
Premier League clubs must submit their 25-man squads no later than October 20, but Chelsea’s lack of outgoings have left boss Lampard with a number of players who are unlikely to see game time this season.
Chelsea ace Ruben Loftus-Cheek joins Fulham on season-long loan transfer with Frank Lampard wanting him to get game time
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
