Former Chelsea right-back Glen Johnson has urged the club to sign Everton left-back Lucas Digne as a replacement for the injured Ben Chilwell.

Chilwell is set to miss the rest of the season after undergoing a successful surgery on Thursday. He has been out since since November 23 after suffering a serious knee injury during Chelsea’s 4-0 Champions League group stage win over Italian giants Juventus at Stamford Bridge. 

“It would be a good signing, he’s a good player. For whatever reason he’s not playing under Rafa [Benitez] at the moment. He’s another realistic target,” Johnson told BoyleSports football.

“I’m sure he’d bite your arm off at the opportunity [to play for Chelsea]. He’s not playing as much as he’d like, so that would be a good signing. He can play both sides as well.

“Everton are a good side and they’ve got a decent squad, but Digne’s one of their better players. Rafa has clearly seen something and he prefers the other options. But I am surprised he’s not playing as much.”