Chelsea handed new Marc Guehi transfer twist amid Crystal Palace worry

Marc Guehi's chances of sealing a Crystal Palace exit in the final few weeks of the summer transfer window may have just decreased.

The England international has just 12 months remaining on his contract which has seen links to Chelsea and Liverpool emerge.

The Premier League champions, who are leading the race for Guehi, are in desperate need of a new centre-back following Jarell Quansah's switch to Bayer Leverkusen. Enzo Maresca's side meanwhile, currently appear very well-stocked in defence after signing Jorrel Hato from Ajax, however that could change very soon.

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The likes of Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga and Aaron Anselmino are all set to depart either permanently or on loan while Benoit Badiashile is still missing with an injury. He has since been joined in the treatment room by Levi Colwill with the England international set to miss most of the season after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament.

Josh Acheampong could be set for more minutes as a result but it was Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah that started Sunday's friendly against AC Milan.

The teenage defender was introduced just before the hour mark, though, as Chalobah was forced off with a potential injury picked up following a collision that was bad enough to result in him limping toward the bench when he was replaced.

If Chalobah has picked up a bad issue, Chelsea will undoubtedly go into the market for a new centre-back with Maresca having already admitted as such when it was just Colwill that was injured.

"It's a priority that we strengthen the defence," he revealed earlier this week. "This is because Levi is a fantastic player. What we achieved last season is because of him. He's played all the games with me, I love him, we're going to miss him."

Chelsea won their two pre-season games without him, however, with a 2-0 win over Bayern Leverkusen on Friday evening followed up by a dominant 4-1 victory over Milan on Sunday. At the same time the latter clash was taking place, Palace and Liverpool were facing off in the Community Shield final.

With the game level at 2-2 after 90 minutes, penalties were required to decide the winner. Eberechi Eze and Mohamed Salah were among the players to miss with Justin Devenny scoring the decisive spot-kick for the Eagles.

Prior to all of that drama, Guehi was replaced after going down off the ball on two separate occasions. It is possible that he had suffered a muscular issue but it was more likely cramp as it was not serious enough to stop the 25-year-old from passionately celebrating Palace's victory.

Daichi Kamada, meanwhile, was far less jubilant having been replaced by Will Hughes midway through the first half because of an injury. The Japan international is now likely a major injury doubt for Palace's opening game of the Premier League season which is against Chelsea on Sunday, August 17.