Chelsea and Barcelona set to battle it out for ex-Blackburn Rovers man

We’re just 11 games into this Premier League campaign, but already it seems clubs are lining up January bids for some of the finest talents in world football. And there’s one former Blackburn Rovers midfielder that’s currently watching a host of Europe’s elite clubs battle for his signature.

Steven N’Zonzi is reportedly being watched by Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City and Juventus, as clubs look to add some steel to their midfield for the second-half of the season.

While City and Juve have only expressed some minor interest in the 27-year-old, it seems more likely to be a two-horse race between Luis Enrique and Antonio Conte for the Sevilla man’s services.

And it wouldn’t be the first time the latter name has added an ex-Premier League man to his ranks, despite only taking over at Stamford Bridge in the summer.

He forked out just short of £25m for former Bolton Wanderers defender Marcos Alonso back in August, and it’s thought he’d have to spend even more than that to prise N’Zonzi away from La Liga’s high-fliers.

Not to mention the fact that interest from Barcelona could quite easily see the midfielder’s value rise over £30m.

And the Spanish giants may just prove too tempting a club to turn down for N’Zonzi, who was relegated with Blackburn back in 2012.

But the 6ft 4in defensive-midfielder has since spent three years at Stoke City, before a £6.8m move to Sevilla was finalised in 2015, where he played a key role in Los Rojiblancos’ Europa League success and has impressed so far this season.

So will he be heading back to the league where he spent six years of his career? Or can Sevilla keep hold of one of their key players?

With the January transfer window now just eight weeks away, one thing’s for sure: all eyes will be on N’Zonzi.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing