Having danced the Tango all summer long with Barcelona, Chelsea could be set for another round with the Spanish giants next summer too.
Andreas Christensen left the club following the expiry of his contract, departing for free, and a move for some of his former teammates may well be on the cards with two members of Graham Potter's squad in a similar position to the Dane, one year down the line.
Chelsea felt the pain of losing Christensen and weren't able to advance contract negotiations due to limits placed on the club's activities in the wake of sanctions imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government, although they don't have the same reason for their current stars, who are both posing a tough question for Todd Boehly and Graham Potter to answer in the coming months.
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Both Jorginho and N'Golo Kante will be eligible to leave the club for free next summer if no agreement is reached, but more pressing is that they can start negotiations with some potential suitors as early as January. With such an intense schedule and the winter World Cup as well, Chelsea don't have long to make their calls if they are to persuade either player or even make the offer.
Barcelona, who took advantage of the stalling with Christensen, could make a move for Kante and Jorginho, the Evening Standard are reporting. The Catalan side spent big last summer to bring in Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha but also made smart use of the free market to also add Franck Kessie to their midfield. Marcos Alonso also joined after being in talks with the club for most of the summer whilst Cesar Azpilicueta was also expected to depart Stamford Bridge, although he did sign a new deal.
Kante would be happy to remain in London but wants a deal longer than Chelsea are currently willing to offer, with the club wary of his injury issues. Jorginho would also be happy to stay but has spoken of a move back to Italy consistently since joining Chelsea.
The Frenchman has not been available since leaving the pitch early against Tottenham in August and has played just two of the 12 matches so far this season. Speaking about his midfielder, Potter said: "N’Golo, we are just waiting — he has had a reaction in training so we are just waiting on the news from that.
"It’s certainly not ideal and it’s disappointing for him and for us. We have to wait and see the extent of it and go from there."
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