Your Chelsea transfer round-up on Thursday, June 8.
James drops Mbappe hint
Chelsea could look to pull off an outrageous transfer swoop this summer for Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe with two possible secret weapons they can use to sign him.
A transfer to Chelsea for a footballing superstar is one of Todd Boehly's dream amid more links that Neymar will move to west London. However, it could be a different PSG attacker that joins Chelsea in the coming windows after his relationship with a Blues man was made clear.
Taking to Instagram Reece James posted a picture of himself with Mbappe captioning the story, "*lightning bolt emoji* X *flexed arm emoji* @K.Mbappe". The duo were both at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona over the weekend with Neymar, Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount also spotted on the grid.
Kante medical complete
One of the first transfers of the Mauricio Pochettino era looks set to be an outgoing deal with N'Golo Kante agreeing to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ittihad.
Kante looked set to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge under Pochettino, but no agreement was reached and thus the Saudi Arabian champions swooped in with a sensational offer. Upon signing a two-year deal, with an option for a further season, the midfielder will receive €100million (£86m) per season.
The Blues must now likely face the upcoming campaign without their engine room operator as Kante completed his Al Ittihad medical earlier this afternoon in London, as per Fabrizio Romano. The move is yet to be completely finalised, although it is just a few final documents away from being announced.
Kovacic exit admission
Mateo Kovacic has dropped a major hint that he will leave Chelsea this summer. The Croatian has been an integral figure of the Blues midfield for the last five years but is one of many who may depart Stamford Bridge ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Manchester City have opened talks to sign Kovacic in recent days with Pep Guardiola also eyeing a mini-midfield rebuild. Any move to Etihad Stadium is yet to advance significantly, but Kovacic has delivered a major admission on his future which hints towards an exit. “I have one more year with Chelsea, this season was very bad," Kovacic told Croatian outlet Nacional.
"Everything is going towards the fact that after 5 good years, I will change the center, but in football anything can happen. Right now, I’m focused on Croatia and the League of Nations."
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