Burnley and Leeds United join race for Chelsea starlet | OneFootball

Two potential promotion rivals are in the race for Bashir Humphreys, but the Clarets and the Whites aren't the only teams interested.

Highlights

Championship duo Burnley and Leeds United are interested in a potential deal for Chelsea centre-back Bashir Humphreys.

That's according to Fabrizio Romano, who believes the Blues' defender will leave Stamford Bridge in the coming days on either a loan or permanent basis.

Humphreys has endured a fairly mixed career.

Although he has been unable to make much of an impact for his current club, he was able to play in the German second tier with SC Paderborn during the second half of the 2022/23 season.

He then linked up with Swansea City on a season-long loan deal last term and managed to get some valuable experience under his belt in South Wales.

However, when he returned to Stamford Bridge this summer, his future was unclear.

Clearly, the 21-year-old is a promising player, having featured in the England youth setup at various age levels during the early stages of his career.

However, he is in need of more game time if he's to develop and have the best chance of fulfilling his potential, and it looks as though he will be leaving Enzo Maresca's side in the coming days or weeks.

Burnley and Leeds United interested in Bashir Humphreys deal

According to Romano, both the Clarets and the Whites have shown an interest in Humphreys, who is set to leave his current side in the coming days.

However, the transfer insider has also reported that Bundesliga sides are looking at the centre-back as a potential option.

In terms of the Blues' stance, they would prefer a sale to a loan exit as things stand, although another temporary departure for the 21-year-old hasn't been ruled out at this point.

Both the Clarets and the Whites may have the funds to get a permanent deal over the line, with the latter raising plenty of money through player sales this summer.

At 21, Humphreys will want to be starting regularly now and he isn't guaranteed that game time at either Turf Moor or Elland Road.

At Turf Moor, Scott Parker has so many centre-back options at this point and this is why the Blues' defender shouldn't even be considering a move to Lancashire at this stage.

Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Hannes Delcroix, CJ Egan-Riley, Hjalmar Ekdal, Maxime Esteve, Luke McNally and Dara O'Shea can all play in central defence and although some of these players will probably leave before the end of the summer window, Humphreys may still find it hard to earn regular starts under Parker.

In terms of Leeds, they also have some excellent centre-back options, with Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk starting alongside each other yesterday and Ethan Ampadu also able to operate in central defence if required.

Max Wober can also play there, but he could potentially depart and with Liam Cooper yet to sign a new deal, Humphreys may have more chance of winning a decent amount of game time at Elland Road.