Chelsea have revived interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri ahead of the summer transfer window.
Rayan Ait-Nouri, 22, has been impressed during his time at Molineux since arriving from French side Angers in 2020, racking up 106 appearances for Wolves across all competitions. He has proven to be a reliable operator in Gary O’Neil’s exciting 3-4-3 system, contributing one goal and an assist from the left wing-back position this campaign. The Algeria international has a contract at Wolves until the end of 2025-26, nonetheless, his valuation is difficult to gauge with former club Angers having an alleged 50% sell-on clause.
Chelsea are reportedly monitoring the situation when Ait-Nouri wants to switch to a bigger club in the summer, regardless of being happy with life in the West Midlands. The 22-year-old wing-back has been on the Blues’ radar for quite some time but it appears he’s recently been added to the club’s concrete list of summer targets.
Chelsea planning to add a new left-back
Chelsea are set for another major rebuild in the summer following a poor season under Mauricio Pochettino. They look destined to bring in a new left-back, amid claims that Ian Maatsen, currently enjoying his loan spell with Borussia Dortmund, could leave the club permanently. The Pensioners also hope to offload Marc Cucurella, whose big-money move from Brighton in the summer of 2022 hasn’t worked out.
Ben Chilwell, Chelsea’s senior-most left-back, continues to deal with injury problems, limiting him to just 12 league appearances this term. Thus, the West London club’s interest in signing a young left-back is complete. Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri, in that regard, would be perfect for them.
Ait-Nouri is a Premier League-proven commodity, and at 22, he is the kind of player Chelsea have inclined towards signing under the co-ownership of Todd Boehly. The Algeria international’s time at Wolves has been promising, and having spent a good number of years at Wolves, he is ready to make the step up to a bigger Premier League club. He is still very young and could develop into a top left-back in the coming years with maturity and proper coaching.
Thus, Chelsea must go all out to sign Ait-Nouri when the transfer window reopens.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
