Chelsea have yet to open talks with Mateo Kovacic despite his contract having just 16 months left to run.
The 28-year-old midfielder has interest from Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, while Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as Bayern Munich manager last week has put the club on alert for interest in several first-team players at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter has given Kovacic the captain’s armband due to injuries to Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva and the January sale of Jorginho to Arsenal.
There is a growing feeling, however, that he could be sold as part of a summer clear-out, with the Blues targeting another defensive midfielder to partner British transfer-record signing Enzo Fernandez and needing to raise funds to comply with financial regulations.
The club reported a loss of £121million for last season, attributed in part to government sanctions placed on former owner Roman Abramovich, following on from a £153m loss in 2020/21.
West Ham’s Declan Rice, Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia could all be targets having been of interest to the Blues in the past few windows, but Chelsea must also raise significant funds from player sales if they are to avoid falling foul of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, which prohibit loss-making of more than £105m over a rolling three-year period.
N’Golo Kante, meanwhile, is in the final stages of agreeing a new two-year contract with an option for a further 12 months on the table. His renewal will be a victory for the Boehly-Clearlake ownership group who are expected to fend off interest from Barcelona, with just three months left on Kante’s current deal.
Chelsea believe the 31-year-old is ready to play a major role over the rest of the season after returning from a seven-month lay-off to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Charlton at Cobham at the weekend.
