Chelsea are increasing their interest in Lacroix as part of their defensive rebuild

 Chelsea are looking to rebuild their defense under new manager Xabi Alonso, and the club intends to intensify its efforts to sign Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix. The Blues are looking to add at least one centre-back to their squad - amid interest in Trevoh Chalobah from Italian club Como - and Lacroix is ​​emerging as a key target. Chelsea have already sold Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid this transfer window for a fee of £51.8 million and are expected to soon complete the purchase of Atalanta defender Marco Palestra for a fee in excess of £43 million. Chelsea's next priority is a centre-back, with Palace expecting an offer from their London rivals for French defender Lacroix, who is currently on a World Cup training camp. The 26-year-old has three years left on his contract, is a key player for the Eagles and was a major contributor to the club's triumphs in the FA Cup and Europa League. Crystal Palace are keen to offer Lacroix a new contract, but it is unclear whether the 26-year-old is ready to enter into talks. Another option Chelsea is considering is 21-year-old center back Jacobo Ramon from Como. Additionally, the matter is complicated by Como's interest in Chalobah, who want to strengthen their defense rather than weaken it, while the English defender is open to a move to Italy. Ramon is also linked to former club Real Madrid through various clauses, while the Spanish club have made Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, valued at £120m by the Blues, one of their key targets this summer. Fernandez is known to want to move to Madrid. This all fits into the great summer sale and strengthening of Chelsea's defense before Alonso officially takes over. Palestra, who can play on both sides of the defense, is to be the first reinforcement. However, there are doubts about the future of another Chelsea full-back, Malo Gusto, who is considering his future at the club and the Blues have set a fee of £75 million for him. The Frenchman is attracting interest from Manchester City. Further doubts surround the future of Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo, with the club likely to need to sell a few players to make room in defence, while additions in attack and midfield may also be added at a later date.