Chelsea have made an inquiry for Roma left-back Emerson Palmieri, reports the London Evening Standard.
Antonio Conte is determined to sign another left wing-back this month to add competition for places with Marcos Alonso.
Chelsea are not willing to match Juventus’ £60m valuation of Alex Sandro and are now considering alternatives.
Porto’s Alex Telles has been earmarked as a potential target but first Chelsea are hopeful of signing Emerson in a deal worth £20m.
The 23-year-old, who has been linked with Liverpool in the past, has only just returned to full fitness from a serious knee injury sustained at the end of last season.
Emerson has dropped down the pecking order behind Aleksandar Kolarov this season and now Chelsea are hoping to take advantage of the situation by offering him regular playing time at Stamford Bridge.
The Roma No.33 has only managed 16 minutes of playing time in Serie A this season, but last term the Brazilian finished with an impressive WhoScored rating of 7.37 from 25 league appearances.