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Douglas Luiz is NOT on the verge of a move to Chelsea, Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche has confirmed, despite the midfielder being left out of the squad over the weekend. The Brazilian has been identified as a potential addition for the Blues as they aim to bolster their midfield options.

A deal would be somewhat complicated given the former Aston Villa man is currently in the middle of a season-long loan at Nottingham Forest from Juventus. The Midlands side have an obligation to buy for around £22million should he make 15 league appearances of 45 minutes or more.

With Chelsea considering him, eyebrows were raised when Luiz was left out of the Forest side that beat Brentford 2-0 on Sunday. But boss Dyche confirmed his absence was nothing to do with anything transfer related.

He said: "He's ill. He's got what's going around - the flu sort of situation. He came in and spoke to the doctor. We said we had to get him out of the camp because we had such a long injury list when we got here and we don't want illness to creep in as well.

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"When you are travelling on planes and all the rest of it, it spreads like wildfire. Hopefully he will recover quickly.”

Despite confirming that Luiz is currently out through injury, Dyche does not appear to be particularly optimistic about his future at the club. Asked if he sees the midfielder still being part of the squad for the remainder of the season, he replied: "We'll see.”

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior has already spoken out on potentially adding a new midfielder in the aftermath of Dario Essugo’s injury. Speaking ahead of the weekend's win against Crystal Palace, he said: “In terms of my midfield options you've got Enzo [Fernandez], Moi [Moises Caicedo], Andrey Santos, Reece James.

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“It's not bad. I've been really clear on this: I don't want to bring in players that don't enhance the group or the chemistry that we're building.

“So we have to be very selective at this stage of the season. If we do bring in the right player in a certain position, they have to have a clear impact on the team.”

Away from midfield, Chelsea are also keen to add to their central defensive ranks. Argentine centre-back Aarón Anselmino is set to return to Stamford Bridge over the coming days, having been recalled from his loan spell with Borussia Dortmund.

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