Chelsea and Barcelona are both weighing up bids for Montpellier defender Maelle Lakrar, according to L’Equipe.

The French publication claims that the 23-year-old is “on their list” of targets for the January transfer window.

Lakrar stood out with her performances for France at the World Cup back in the summer. It was her first major tournament, having only been capped 10 times by her country.

She has spent the last 5 and a half seasons at Montpellier, having made the switch from Marseille in 2018. L’Equipe claim that her current club are not interested in selling the player but, with her contract set to expire at the end of the season, you can’t rule out a move this month.

Why are Chelsea interested in Lakrar?

With injuries to both captain Mille Bright and Aniek Nouwen, manager Emma Hayes could do with some reinforcements at the back to maintain the Blues’ title challenge.

While Lakrar is still pretty young, she has a lot of experience of senior football, having made her debut as a teenager all the way back in 2015. For that reason, there is a good chance that the centre-half will be capable of making the step up to the Women’s Super League.

Lakrar is a pretty versatile defender

The Blues would not only be signing a player who can play in one position, with Lakrar having been deployed as a right-back and in midfield during her professional career.

In the build-up to the World Cup, she was selected by France on the right-hand side of defence, keeping that position for the first group game against Jamaica. She then switched to play centrally for the three subsequent fixtures versus Brazil, Panama and Australia.

At club level, Lakrar has been exclusively used as a centre-back for Montpellier this season, having featured in 8 Division 1 Feminine matches so far.