{"id":17010,"date":"2026-07-13T20:06:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=17010"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:06:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:06:34","slug":"chelsea-in-advanced-talks-to-sign-defender-as-he-agrees-wage-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=17010","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea in advanced talks to sign defender as he agrees wage cut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5191225\" data-slug-id=\"2807764\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chelsea are reportedly in advanced talks to sign Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria, who&#8217;s been at the Estadio de Vallecas since the summer of 2022 and is willing to take a wage cut to move to Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n<p>Chavarria, 28, scored once and assisted thrice in 41 games across competitions last season. That lone goal and two of the assists came in 33 games in La Liga, where Vallecano finished eighth, 44 points behind winners Barcelona (94). He also played eight times in the UEFA Europa Conference League, where Vallecano lost to Crystal Palace in the final.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Despite being contracted to the Vallecas till 2030, he has caught the attention of the Blues. As per talkSPORT, Xabi Alonso&#8217;s side are in the final stages of completing a \u00a321.5 million deal, just short of triggering his release clause.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Talks are said to be at an advanced stage between both parties, with Chavarria being seen as a strong option to replace Marc Cucurella, who moved to Real Madrid last month on a six-year deal worth \u00a351.8 million.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>How many Chelsea players are still active at the 2026 FIFA World Cup?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sk-app-thumbnail\" alt=\"Norway vs England: Quarter Final - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Source: Getty\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Norway vs England: Quarter Final - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Source: Getty\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/78044-17839545926241-1920.jpg?w=640\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201280%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Norway vs England: Quarter Final &#8211; FIFA World Cup 2026 &#8211; Source: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Four Chelsea players remain active at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United Stages, Mexico and Canada as the competition enters the semi-final stage this week.<\/p>\n<p>England&#8217;s Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah take on Enzo Fernandez&#8217;s holders Argentina in a blockbuster second semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday (July 15). James came off the bench in a 2-1 extra-time win over Norway in the Round of 16 at the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Fernandez scored the winner as the Albiceleste netted thrice in the final 11 minutes to see off Egypt 3-2 in the Round of 16, having needed extra time to see off competition debutants Cabo Verde by the same scoreline in extra time. The Chelsea man&#8217;s stoppage-time strike was the 3000th goal in FIFA World Cup history.<\/p>\n<p>The other Chelsea player still at the tournament is Malo Gusto, whose France team take on European champions Spain in a mouthwatering last-four clash on Tuesday (July 14) at Dallas Stadium, Arlington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Bhargav<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea are reportedly in advanced talks to sign Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria, who&#8217;s been&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}