Chelsea will reportedly not be signing Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram during the January transfer window.
The Blues have continued with an unprecedented spending spree in January which initially started soon after the takeover of the club at the end of May.
Chelsea have already brought in six fresh faces since the turn of the year, signing Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix and David Datro Fofana.
Although Graham Potter has been left with a heavily-populated squad, it has been widely claimed that the West Londoners intend to add at least two more players before the end of the month.
While a right-back and centre-midfielder are now the priorities, Chelsea have been strongly linked with an approach for Thuram.
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The 25-year-old is once again starring for Monchengladbach this campaign, chipping in with 13 goals from 16 appearances in all competitions.
However, the France international has less than six months remaining on his contract and there is little to no prospect of him penning fresh terms with the German side.
There has been talk of Chelsea making a cut-price bid for the versatile attacker, aware that Monchengladbach would likely prefer to generate a transfer fee for his signature.
Nevertheless, according to FussballTransfers, Thuram would prefer to see out the season with his current team.
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The report states that Thuram has rejected the opportunity to move to Stamford Bridge this month and will reconsider his options ahead of 2023-24.
With Mudryk, Madueke and Felix having all moved to Chelsea, the development may not come as much of a significant blow to the club's hierarchy at this stage.
That said, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have also been linked with Thuram in recent weeks.
His status as a free agent is likely to attract advances from elsewhere, particularly on the back of making five substitute outings for Les Bleus at the World Cup at the end of last year.
Darren Plant
