Chelsea are exploring their options when it comes to adding another left winger to their squad.

Mykhailo Mudryk remains provisionally suspended from football after the Ukrainian failed a drugs test last month. Mudryk faces a far from certain future at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea are looking at other options in the transfer market.

Two names that have been spoken about internally within the club over the last few days are Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens, football.london understands. There has been nothing concrete on either winger yet but both have been identified as potential options, with Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel also being considered this month.

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Gittens, the Reading-born winger, actually spent some time with Chelsea during his youth career. The now 20-year-old joined Reading at a very young age and also spent some time with the Blues. At Under-9s level, though, Gittens made the decision to remain with Reading, where he stayed under Under-14s before signing for Manchester City.

Like a certain Jadon Sancho, who has taken an eerily similar path in senior football as Gittens, Borussia Dortmund came calling and poached the winger. After a couple of years in Manchester, Gittens moved to Germany in 2020 to join the Black and Yellow.

Over the past 10 years or so, there has been a noticeable rise in English players moving abroad to play their football. Sancho was very much a trendsetter in that regard and Jude Bellingham's time with Dortmund should be inspiration to any young player debating whether to do it.

Sancho is someone Gittens looks up to, with the Dortmund winger admitting last summer that he has learned a lot from someone he considers a friend. Speaking to German outlet WAZ, Gittens said: "I've learned a lot from Jadon. For example, that I have to play with one or two touches more often, that I have to offer deeper runs more often. And when he plays, he enjoys himself; I've learned that too. Jadon is a friend."

Gittens and Sancho often speak to each other. At the end of November, Sancho messaged Gittens after the winger scored the opening goal in Dortmund's draw with rivals Bayern Munich in Bundesliga.

"He wrote to me to say: 'Keep it up'," Gittens said. "'It's your time to show everyone what you can do'. He is a top player and also a top friend."

Gittens has been on fire for BVB this season, where the winger has scored 11 goals already in all competitions, while also providing five assists in the process. It comes as no surprise that the youngster is being looked at by Chelsea, whether a move materialises this month or in the summer. But, who knows; Gittens and Sancho - the close friends - could be teammates sooner rather than later.