Chelsea have struck out in their pursuit of John Stones, and might have struck out again in their pursuit of Aymen Abdennour, but if reports emerging in France are to be believed, they still might get one of the hottest young central defensive prospects on the market. Mercato365 is reporting that Chelsea are ready to meet the €50 million buyout to sign Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte, a favorite in the WAGNH comments section.

Personally, I'm not all that familiar with Mercato365, but the feedback I was given when I asked around ranged from "not the worst" to "not too bad". With that in mind, I suppose this rumor needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but as the player would seem to be an obvious target for a club looking for long-term answers in the center of the defense, this one seems to be worth paying attention to.