Chelsea joins the race for Blackburn star after the chef's reconnaissance mission

CHELSEA jumps into the race for Blackburn star Adam Wharton and will battle it out with Crystal Palace for the midfielder.

Blues sporting director Paul Winstanley saw Wharton in action last week after the 19-year-old's performance against the club in the Carabao Cup earlier this season piqued their interest.

Winstanley is looking for even more talent despite spending big on midfielders, and Chelsea may be open to a buy-and-loan arrangement.

Rovers rejected an £18.5m bid from Palace this week and want a maximum of £25m, although they could accept that in the form of a deposit and extras.

Wharton – who signed a five-year contract at Ewood Park last month – will also want to know his career path, so Chelsea will need to be convincing and any plans to loan him out next season would not go down well.

Palace are unlikely to go above their offer of £15m plus £3.5m in add-ons for Wharton and are already exploring alternatives.

Among them is Jordan James, 19, from Birmingham, which is available for around half the price.

Serie A side Atalanta had bid for James but came up short so Palace could come in with an acceptable bid for the Welsh teenager.

Birmingham want to loan Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi – and the 21-year-old could still be part of the deal.

Blues have made contact about the wideman, who is due to leave Eagles for regular game time and could leave if they bring in one or two new players.

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Rak-Sakyi is back after a two-month absence with a torn hamstring, but cannot make it into Roy Hodgson's squad.

This season he only made eight appearances for the first team.