Chelsea interested in nephew of Nigeria's Dream Team IV centre-back 

Premier League giants Chelsea have reportedly opened a line of communication with Rennes over the signing of talented French-born Nigerian youngster Lesley Ugochukwu.

 A holding midfielder by trade, Ugochukwu is the nephew of Nigeria's Dream Team IV central defender Oyekachi Apam, who also won silver with the Flying Eagles at the 2005 Fifa U20 World Cup in the Netherlands. 

Ugochukwu has seen his stock rise after establishing himself as a first-team regular at Rennes and his nomination for the 2023 Golden Boy award. 

Last season, the 2004-born player appeared in 35 matches across all competitions for Rennes, twenty of which he started, and was in action for 1,996 minutes. 

According to L'Equipe, Chelsea and Rennes have been negotiating a transfer of young midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu for ten days. 

Chelsea are in the market for at least one midfielder before the close of the summer transfer window after the departures of Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N'Golo Kanté, Tiemoué Bakayoko and Denis Zakaria this summer.

Their priority target is Southampton's Belgium international Roméo Lavia, but Ugochukwu is on the list of midfielders being considered. 

Ugochukwu has played nonstop at Rennes since the age of eight and his contract with the Red and Blacks runs out in the summer of 2025.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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