Chelsea Transfer News: Lorenzo Insigne Linked, William Carvalho Rumours Emerge

Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted star forward Lorenzo Insigne could leave the club for Chelsea, while William Carvalho's return to fitness has seen the Blues revive their interest in the Sporting Lisbon man.

Insigne notched his third goal of the Serie A campaign in Saturday's 2-1 win over reigning champions Juventus, after which Sarri confessed his player could make the move to a bigger club, per Metro: "Insigne? There is one who could quickly find themselves at Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea."

Marco Vasini/Associated Press

Of course, the Azzurri tactician's words should be taken with a pinch of salt considering he's merely praising Insigne's talent, but it's nonetheless exciting for Blues fans to hear Sarri accept Chelsea as a step up.

Insigne has been a key figure for Napoli so far this season and has re-formed a productive partnership alongside Gonzalo Higuain to record three goals and two assists in six league appearances.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have been struggling to recapture the spirit of past campaigns in both attack and defence, with suspended striker Diego Costa among those misfiring thus far.   

Having taken on a more central role at times this season and lurking as a form of trequartista for periods, creating chances remains one of Insigne's biggest strengths, as depicted by OptaPaolo:

Chelsea have already seen change across their creative line of late after transfer flop Juan Cuadrado moved to Juventus on a season-long loan this past summer, with Pedro arriving as his replacement.

Despite the transfer rumours linking Insigne, a native of Naples, Italy, with a move away from Napoli, DiMarzio translator David Amoyal has, however, quoted the player's agent saying his client wishes to remain:

Prior to the start of this Premier League campaign, it may have been hard to imagine a squad revolution taking place at Stamford Bridge, but it appears no player is safe as the Blues sit 14th after seven games.

At 24 years of age, Insigne is already an experienced asset with more than 100 Serie A appearances to his name, but one would think Chelsea need to shift some players on before they could reinvest in a star of his size.

There may be more room in defensive midfield, though, as Carvalho's comeback from injury means the Portugal international once again finds himself back in the transfer headlines.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

According to Italian outlet Tutto Mercato Web (h/t Metro's Tom Olver), Chelsea will race against Arsenal and Liverpool for the midfield general, who has been regarded as one of the Primeira Liga's top prospects for some time—if not the top.

Carvalho was nominated as Player of the Tournament during this year's European Under-21 Championship and this Saturday made his return from injury in Sporting's 0-0 stalemate against Boavista.

Metro's Portuguese expert, Jan Hagen, posted an image from Sporting showing just how excited the club was to have its star back over the weekend, using the Twitter hashtag "SirWilliamIsBack":

The capital outfit value their anchor as a prized possession and managed to resist a summer of supposed speculation to keep hold of their star for the 2015-16 season.

Cesc Fabregas has been one of those players struggling to hit the heights of a triumphant 2014-15 campaign, with ESPN's John Brewin criticising the Spaniard during Saturday's 2-2 draw at Newcastle United:

He and Nemanja Matic formed a solid midfield tandem last season that was largely to thank for a great deal of Chelsea's success, but it may be Blues manager Jose Mourinho is already looking to modify his engine-room pivot.

The west Londoners will need to assess Carvalho in the months to come to see if the 10-cap international is experiencing any hangover from his injury, but another mound of Premier League speculation seems to be heading in his direction.