Chelsea duo Baba Rahman and Kenedy targeted for late Galatasaray transfer swoop

Having failed to secure moves away from Chelsea by the English summer transfer deadline, Abdul "Baba" Rahman or Kenedy could still depart Stamford Bridge over the coming days with reports suggesting that Galatasaray are looking to sign one of the duo before the Turkish window closes for business on Friday (8 September).

Turkish sports newspaper Fanatik understands that Gala manager Igor Tudor is looking to reinforce his left-hand side following Lionel Carole's recent loan move to Sevilla, with Kenedy believed to be a back-up option in the event that they are unable to get Rahman. Galatasaray's sporting director, Cenk Ergun, is believed to have travelled to London for negotiations with Chelsea.

A £21.7m ($28.1m) signing from Augsburg in August 2015, Rahman made 23 appearances under Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink during a tumultuous debut campaign in English football.

He later reunited with former boss Markus Weinzierl during a season-long loan stint at Schalke that was cut short after 21 outings by an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered while on international duty with Ghana at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The Bundesliga outfit, now under the management of Domenico Tedesco, began talks with a view to re-signing Rahman during the summer despite it remaining uncertain when exactly he would be in a position to return to action. He was also said to have attracted interest from a number of other clubs across Europe, although no move ever materialised.

The 23-year-old was subsequently omitted from Antonio Conte's Premier League and Champions League squads, although was pictured training alongside the likes of Danny Drinkwater, David Luiz, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Cesc Fabregas and Marcos Alonso at Cobham on Monday.

While Rahman has become something of a forgotten man at Chelsea, Kenedy, who made just one appearance during a disappointing loan spell at Watford last season that was terminated in January, made negative headlines during the summer after he was sent home from a pre-season tour of the Far East and fined following the publication of derogatory social media posts that caused uproar in China.

Such a regrettable episode cast serious doubt upon his future with the defending top-flight champions, although a potential loan switch to Newcastle United was initially delayed and never came to fruition due to Conte harbouring concerns about his squad size following a difficult summer in which Chelsea struggled to land several of their first-choice transfer targets.

Kenedy has made 22 senior appearances for Chelsea since joining from Fluminense two years ago, featuring only against Brentford and Watford in the second half of last season. After not making Conte's squad for the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, the former Brazil Under-20 international, capable of playing at left-back or on the wing, was included on the bench for all three opening matches of the 2017-18 campaign against Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

Super Lig leaders Galatasaray have bounced back from the disappointment of their Europa League play-off round defeat to Swedish side Ostersunds FK by winning each of their first three domestic fixtures. They have already done plenty of business with Premier League clubs over recent months, acquiring the services of Bafetimbi Gomis, Fernando, Jason Denayer and Sofiane Feghouli.