By OkayGoal 
Maxence Lacroix remains a Chelsea target, but the Blues’ attempts to sign him are moving at a glacial pace. Simon Phillips explains why.
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Things are pretty quiet on the incoming transfer front at Chelsea, so it’s a nice moment to see what our writer Simon Phillips is saying. He’s got great exclusive sources, and today he’s bringing an update on Maxence Lacroix, the Crystal Palace defender who is clearly high on our list of options.
Chelsea likely to have to pay £60m for top defensive target
According to Phillips, Chelsea have had “positive” talks with Lacroix’s agents and with Crystal Palace over a move. The reason things haven’t advanced much is that a) he’s still at the World Cup with France and b) Chelsea want to sell more players before they get too deep into the bidding.
In terms of price, Phillips points out that Chelsea were told that the floor would be set by Jan Paul van Hecke’s £52m move to Tottenham. Chelsea are likely to have to pay £60m for Lacroix, with Palace hoping to get that closer to £70m.
The important conclusion is that nothing has stalled – it’s just a question of being patient from both sides. From next week, things could advance quickly with Lacroix freed up for more talks back in the UK.
In other news…
Strasbourg have beaten Benfica to the signing of a really impressive, physically dominant central defender, a huge statement from our sister club.
Chelsea are considering what to do with Liam Delap, and may have found a team who are actually interested in him and could rehabilitate him somewhat.