Chelsea are among the clubs said to have ‘checked’ on a former Manchester City midfielder, as his current situation has ‘alerted’ clubs.

The Blues are well placed in the Premier League, currently fifth after 18 games. A win against Aston Villa on Saturday would have put them fourth, but the Villans came from behind to win 2-1.

There have been issues in the midfield at Stamford Bridge this season, with a number of their players having suffered injuries.

As a result, it is evident that Chelseawill look to make a new midfield signing, though a recent report stated they don’t feel that will happen until the summer.

In any case, the Daily Mailnames Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton as midfield targets, while one of Anderson’s Nottingham Forest team-mates is also on the radar.

The Blues, as well as Leeds, are said to be among the clubs who have ‘checked’ on James McAtee’s situation at the City Ground.

McAteeis yet to make an impact at Forest after making the switch from City in the summer, playing just 149 Premier League minutes and starting only once.

Sean Dyche and the Forest hierarchy are said to think highly of McAtee and maintain that he has a bright future, but the majority of his appearances coming from the bench has ‘alerted’ interested clubs.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is an admirer of McAtee, having coached him when he was in charge of City’s under-23s.

McAtee had the most success of his career so far under Maresca, albeit in academy football, as he scored eight goals and assisted 12 in 26 games.

He played alongside Chelsea men Cole Palmer and Liam Delap in City’s under-23s, so there is a sense that he might quickly gel were he to move to the Blues.

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That said, there is interest from other clubs in McAtee. Alongside the aforementioned Leeds interest, the report states Bournemouth, Fulham and Sunderland are all looking at the potential of signing the midfielder on loan.

On the European continent, Stuttgart, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Porto and PSV Eindhoven are all said to be interested in McAtee.

Whether Forest would allow him to leave permanently remains to be seen, but with opportunities few and far between for him at the moment, a loan move could benefit him, and that could be something that Forest consider.

READ MORE: Chelsea to ‘launch investigation’ after Villa incident as ‘tempers fray’; Maresca explains Palmer reaction