CHELSEA HAVE SIGNED France defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco on a seven-and-a-half-year deal, the Premier League club have confirmed.
The 21-year-old has moved to Stamford Bridge for a reported €39.6 million (£35m) fee, having made over 100 appearances in Ligue 1 for the Principality side.
He has also played in the Champions League and been capped twice by the French national team, making his debut for Didier Deschamps’ side in a 2-1 win against Austria last September.
Badiashile becomes Chelsea’s third major central-defensive signing this season following the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana during the summer transfer window.
“I’m very happy to be here at Chelsea,” Badiashile told the club’s website. “I’m so excited to start playing for this club. I can’t wait to see the fans and start playing in the best league in the world.”
He is the club’s second signing of the January window after striker David Datro Fofana joined from Norwegian side Molde earlier this week.
Welcome to Chelsea, Benoit Badiashile! 👊#BonjourBenoit 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/4Hn38DZEnL
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 5, 2023
“We’re delighted to welcome Benoit to Chelsea,” chairman Todd Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali told the club’s website. “He’s an excellent young player who has quickly established a strong reputation for himself and has a huge amount of experience for his young age. We are sure he will form an important part of our team in the years ahead.”
Meanwhile, former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard insists he would never seek reassurances over his job as Everton manager after Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat to Brighton brought fresh speculation about his future.
There was a febrile atmosphere within Goodison Park after Everton conceded three goals in seven second-half minutes to slump to a dispiriting defeat which has left them 18th in the Premier League.
Although the focus shifts to the FA Cup ahead of Friday’s third-round tie away to Manchester United, the pressure is firmly on Lampard as the Toffees face the prospect of another relegation scrap.
Lampard said the nature of conversations he had with the club’s hierarchy on Wednesday would remain private, but added that he did not need to ask about his own position despite the perhaps itchy finger of club owner Farhad Moshiri, who has sacked five managers in almost seven years.
“I will never and would never seek reassurances,” Lampard said. “It’s part of my job to focus on the job in hand, day to day, game to game. I don’t need reassurances. I come to work to try to improve a bit every day – myself, the team, the squad and everything.
“I’m not hunting around for any reassurances.”
Lampard added that the club’s league position was not his immediate concern, saying he was focused on a longer-term process.
“If we win the next league games, we’ll be out of the bottom three probably,” he said. “It’s part of the process. I’m very aware of what I came in to do in this job. I want to be a success at this club.
“Any challenges that come along, then I’ll take them on and actually enjoy them.
“I enjoy working for this club, it’s a real honour for me. That’s why I say ‘I don’t need reassurances’. I’m a big man working for a great club and I’ll keep doing it.”
