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Chelsea are willing to listen to offers for defender Marc Cucurella ahead of a possible January transfer move, sources have told ESPN.

The £62 million ($75.5m) signing from Brighton made his second appearance of the season in Wednesday’s 1-0 Carabao Cup fourth-round win against his former club but is yet to play a single Premier League minute since Mauricio Pochettino became head coach in July.

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Cucurella told ESPN as part of an exclusive interview in July that he wanted to stay at the club and fight for his place but a lack of regular minutes in the coming months will likely force a rethink.

Chelsea were ready to allow the 25-year-old to join Manchester United on loan this summer but the deal collapsed after Cucurella played in the club’s previous Carabao Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon.

FIFA regulations stipulate that a player cannot represent three clubs in a single season and given United wanted to insert a break clause in any deal to allow them to return Cucurella to Chelsea, talks broke down.

Reports in Spain have linked Real Madrid with a possible loan bid in January and the prospect of returning to the country of his birth is thought to appeal to Cucurella. United are unlikely to re-enter the running given they signed Sergio Reguilón on loan from Tottenham after switching their attentions from Cucurella.

Chelsea would prefer a permanent transfer to help balance the books after another summer of spending which took Chelsea’s total outlay on transfers past the £1 billion mark since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover of the club last May.