According to reports, Chelsea is thinking about moving for Matty Cash, the right-back for Aston Villa, during the January transfer window.

This season, the Blues have suffered injuries to multiple first-team players, including captain Reece James, who had surgery last week for a persistent hamstring issue.

After suffering three serious hamstring strains in a 12-month period, James is anticipated to be sidelined for approximately four months due to his most recent ιnjury.

The only recognized right-back in Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea lineup is twenty-year-old Malo Gusto. This season, however, left-back Marc Cucurella and center-back Axel Disasi have both played on the right side of defense.

Chelsea is anticipated to intensify their search for a new right-back in the New Year, despite their well-documented spending binges in previous transfer windows under co-owner Todd Boehly, in order to give Gusto more competition, especially in the second half of the season.

Chelsea has reportedly eyed Poland international Cash as a possible winter window target, according to 90min.

Before moving to Aston Villa in the summer of 2020 for a reported £15 million, the 26-year-old played his senior career for Nottingham Forest for the first four of those years.

Since then, Cash has appeared in 122 games for the Lions across all competitions, including 26 games in the Premier League, EFL Cup, and Europa Conference League this year.

Recently, Villa’s No. 2 has been absent from the starting lineup as manager Unai Emery has chosen to start Ezri Konsa at right-back in Premier League games against Bournemouth, Manchester City, and Arsenal.

After serving a one-match suspension for the Boxing Day 3-2 loss at Manchester United, Cash started as a right midfielder in the first XI for back-to-back games against Brentford and Sheffield United.

Cash may find it difficult to play right-back for Emery on a regular basis if his game time is restricted. In that case, a move to Stamford Bridge would be of interest to him.

That being said, it is anticipated that Cash will fall behind James as soon as he becomes healthy again, which should happen before the end of the season.

Ivan Toney of Brentford and Victor Osimhen of Napoli are reportedly top targets for Chelsea, who are also rumored to be prioritizing the recruitment of a new center-forward in January.