Chelsea star 'set for shock exit' less than 12 months after joining club in £35m move

Chelsea could be set to lose one of their players less than a year after he joined the club.

Chelsea are thought to be keen to raise funds in the transfer market in order to cut down their hefty wage bill and comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

Lewis Hall is one of the names rumoured with an exit at the end of the season, with Newcastle poised to sign him on a permanent deal in the summer.

However, Benoit Badiashile could be set for a shock exit this winter, just 12 months after he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

The 22-year-old centre-back joined the Blues from Monaco for £35million in January 2023.

But he has been rumoured with a move back to Ligue 1 following reports that Lyon have made him a "priority" target.

That's according to French outlet Foot Mercato, who claim that the French club have at least £45million to spend in the January transfer window in a desperate plea to strengthen their backline and avoid relegation.

Despite having won Ligue 1 seven times in their history, Lyon are currently 16th place in the table and facing a shock fight for survival.

As a result, the club have identified Badiashile to help sure up their defence.

The Frenchman has played just 16 times for Chelsea since making the move to west London, scoring one goal.

He has struggled for regular game times this season, making just five appearances due to injury problems.

However, Mauricio Pochettino will likely want to keep the defender on his books now that he has recovered from injury and and started four of Chelsea's last five Premier League matches.

Indeed, Pochettino was full of praise for Badiashile after the Blues' 2-0 win over Sheffield United on the weekend, singling him out during his post-match press conference.

"I think collectively it was good," the Argentinian coach said. "Benoit, after long time away because he suffered a big injury, now he's recovering his feeling and this is good.

"The challenge for us now is to recover all the players. It's going to be difficult because we had a few injuries last week, and then we need to try to get the best from the squad which has a good balance if they are all fit.

"I am happy because this was important and now we are thinking about Newcastle on Tuesday, an important game to go to the semi-final. Newcastle are a great team but I think we can feel confident."