Chelsea defender Baba Rahman is rumored to be on his way out of the Stamford Bridge in a loan deal to Bundesliga side Schalke 04 this summer as Blues new head coach Antonio Conte is keen on bringing PSV Eindhoven's Colombian right back Santiago Arias to England next season.
Rahman is already "set to undergo a medical with the German giants" and that the Blues are "sure to be on the look-out for a replacement" with the 24-year-old Arias as the club's top target, according to The Sun.
The 22-year-old Ghana international is said to have fallen off the coach's pecking order this summer as teenage teammate Ola Aina played more minutes than Rahman during the Pensioners' ongoing preseason tour of the United States.
Similar to former boss Jose Mourinho and interim manager Guus Hiddink's assessment of him last term, Conte is allegedly unconvinced about Rahman's performances as well and so the manager has approved his loan spell back to Germany.
The 5-foot-10 Tamale, Ghana native was acquired by Chelsea from another Bundesliga squad, FC Augsburg, last summer for a rumored fee of £14 million to £22 million. He arrived at the Bridge with high expectations from the fans and team officials, but he was not able to deliver in his one season with the club.
Rahman appeared in only 15 games last season under Mourinho and Hiddink as both managers had preferred Brazilian midfielder Kenedy over him in most of the fixtures.
Meanwhile, SkySports noted that Rahman was not the only young player in the Blues' roster that Conte deemed to be a surplus to his requirements.
Youngsters Nathan Ake, Charly Musonda, and Lewis Baker were all loaned out this offseason to fellow Premier League squad AFC Bournemouth, La Liga team Real Betis, and Dutch outfit SBV Vitesse respectively and it seems like Rahman will be fourth in line.
Rahman had spent three seasons in Germany for Greuther Fürth and Augsburg before being an expensive transfer move by Chelsea last year. He played a total of 48 games in all competitions for the Shamrocks from 2012 to 2014 while he appeared in 32 matches in all competitions as well for Fuggerstädter from 2014 to 2015.