Chelsea set condition for Everton to swap injured loanee for Carney Chukwuemeka
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Everton are interested in Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, talkSPORT understands.
Chelsea would have to be willing to terminate Armando Broja’s Toffees loan in order to facilitate a loan move to Goodison Park for Chukwuemeka.
Broja is out for three months with ankle ligament damage but Chelsea are demanding a compensation package to take him back.
Chukwuemeka is also on West Ham’s list of targets.
Everton boss David Moyes is yet to see any incomings since his return to the club two weeks ago.
The Scot has gone public on the importance of bolstering his side this month as Everton look to stave off the threat of relegation.
Moyes has sounded out Chukwuemeka who was touted as one of the Premier League's brightest young talents prior to his £20million switch from Aston Villa to Chelsea in 2022.
He featured in 14 Premier League games for Aston Villa before his move to west London but has made 32 appearances in his two-and-a-half years at Chelsea.
The midfielder has struggled to make an impression under Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca having played just 130 minutes of football across all competitions this season.
Borussia Dortmund have also expressed an interest in taking the 21-year-old on loan despite Chelsea's preference to sell the £40m-rated star.
Another option for the out-of-favour midfielder is a loan to partner club Strasbourg where Liam Rosenior is in charge.
The Ligue 1 club, who are also owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, would need to cancel one of their three Chelsea loan players – Djordje Petrovic, Andrey Santos and Caleb Wiley – with all three spots filled as per FIFA rules.
Chukwuemeka will hope to play a key role in determining his future and may still get his move away from Stamford Bridge before deadline day on February 3.
Whilst Moyes admits his preference would be to recruit players with Premier League experience, he stopped short of ruling out signings from the continent.
"It would always be good to get some Premier League experience because they know what they’re coming into and really I think at this stage, where we are, I think it probably would be the right choice if we could," Moyes said.
"But again, it’s not that easy, and because our loans are tied up a little bit as well, that doesn’t make it easy. Players from overseas quite often can come and hit the ground running and there’s no reason to say they wouldn't, or that they wouldn't give the team something else.
"So we are not going to be put off by that. But I think we will look very carefully in the market for value, certainly at least in this transfer window."
Everton are in need of firepower in attacking areas irrespective of Sunday's impressive 3-2 win over Tottenham at Goodison Park.
Goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Iliman Ndiaye and an Archie Gray own goal put the Toffees three goals to the good at the interval.
Despite his side's blistering first-half showing, Moyes knows the final two weeks of the transfer window are critical to his side’s survival hopes.
"We definitely need to try and keep adding," he said. "Look, we have only got one win so I am not here celebrating in any way, far from it."
