According to reports in the Evening Standard, Chelsea are lining up a move for £45m-rated Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles, and their Premier League rivals West Ham United, whose fans have been quick to react to a link with a 22-year-old attacker with one saying "he reminds me of Dybala", should be watching developments closely.

What's the word, then?

Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles

Well, the Evening Standard report that the Blues, along with Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, are keen to sign the 24-year-old following an impressive campaign for the centre-back in which he helped the Magpies finish 10th in their first season back in the Premier League.

The Evening Standard says that Lascelles has long been on the west London outfit's summer transfer wish-list, and if he did arrive at Stamford Bridge before the summer transfer window closes on August 9 then he would be competing with the likes of Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz – as things stand – for a spot in the starting XI next term.

While manager Antonio Conte's future is seemingly still up in the air, it may not stop owner Roman Abramovich acting when it comes to player recruitment.

Why should West Ham be monitoring the situation?

Well, new Irons boss Manuel Pellegrini seems keen to bring a new centre-back to the London Stadium this summer, having lost Jose Fonte and James Collins over the course of the past few months, and with Winston Reid often being hampered by injury issues.

That leaves him with the likes of Declan Rice, Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna – with the former two not even being natural central defenders – and the Chilean could do a lot worse than adding some experience to his backline.

With Chelsea having so many centre-back options if they do get Lascelles, it would surely see at least one go through the exit door and that could be Cahill after he found first-team starts harder to come by last term, although it didn't stop the 6ft 4in defender getting into Gareth Southgate's 23-man England squad for the Russia World Cup.

The Blues captain could be a real asset for West Ham in terms of the quality he has and his leadership skills, and could help them achieve the top-seven finish that Pellegrini will surely be targeting.

[brid autoplay="true" video="252976" player="12034" title="Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup"]