Chelsea have earmarked Ashley Barnes as a potential transfer target this month, according to Sky Sports.
Antonio Conte’s side are determined to sign a target man and have already been linked with moves for Premier League trio Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch and Islam Slimani.
The defending Premier League champions are locked in talks with Roma for the signature of Edin Dzeko and remain hopeful of signing the former Manchester City frontman.
However, there is still some way to go before the two clubs agree on a price for the 31-year-old and Chelsea are drafting up a list of possible alternatives.
Barnes has established himself as a key player for Burnley this season but a move to Stamford Bridge would be one of the most surprising transfers in recent Premier League history.
Ashley Barnes: Of the 75 players that have contested at least 75 aerial duels in the Premier League this season, only two have a worse success rate than Barnes (29%) pic.twitter.com/EORR0k2rno
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 21, 2018
Burnley insist there has been no contact from Chelsea for the 28-year-old, who has scored three Premier League goals in 23 appearances this season.
Of the 75 players that have contested at least 75 aerial duels this season, only two have a worse success rate than Barnes (29%).
