Chelsea are set to push forward with a move for Andre Onana in the coming days as the club look to bring in a new first-choice goalkeeper in time for the new season, football.london understands.
The 27-year-old, who caught the eye in Saturday night's Champions League final against eventual winners Manchester City, has been on Chelsea's radar for some time now – even under the previous ownership of Roman Abramovich. Back then, the club's board consisted of the likes of Petr Cech, who of course was one of the best goalkeepers the Premier League has ever seen, and Marina Granovskaia, who was in charge of transfer-related business.
Cech was understood to be a fan of Onana, who back then was playing for Dutch giants Ajax. However, in 2021, the Cameroonian goalkeeper was banned from football for 12 months for doping after mistakenly taking his wife's medicine. Then in 2022, when he returned to action, he joined Inter Milan with Chelsea's interest in the shot-stopper somewhat cooling.
But the admiration for the ability of Onana has always been there from the Blues' point of view. The club had Edouard Mendy, who had just enjoyed a brilliant debut season with Chelsea, helping them on their way to their second-ever Champions League trophy. By all accounts, it looked as if the Senegal international would be the club's No.1 goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
However, a mixed 2021/22 campaign for Mendy created some doubts over whether that would be the case. His footwork and distribution left a lot to be desired considering the way Chelsea wanted to play out from the back.
Mendy's start to the most recent season, 2022/23, was poor and the Senegalese goalkeeper was then dropped for Kepa Arrizabalaga, with the Spaniard playing the majority of the campaign as the club's first-choice in between the posts. Kepa, though, while producing some solid performances and coming in third-place in Chelsea's Player of the Season vote, did not do enough, really, to cement his space in the first-team for a new era under Mauricio Pochettino.
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Now, as we approach the 2023 summer transfer window, Chelsea are looking for a new first-choice goalkeeper as soon as possible and Onana is one of two priorities at the moment. The other is AC Milan's Mike Maignan with the 27-year-old catching the world's attention over the last season with his fine form for club and country. But Chelsea are aware that striking a deal for the France international could prove quite difficult.
A source has told football.london that Milan want 'mega money' for Maignan and while the price was not specified, it has cast some doubt in Chelsea's mind over whether they can sign the Frenchman. The Italian club were reportedly keen on extending Maignan's deal a couple of months ago but there has since been a change in the board at the San Siro, with Paolo Maldini leaving.
Onana, though, looks more feasible. Chelsea and Inter are set to conduct a number of meetings this week to discuss a variety of topics. The conversations are most likely going to be focused on Romelu Lukaku, whose loan deal at the San Siro is due to expire at the end of this month, but will not be limited to just that.
football.london understands Inter hold a keen interest in Trevoh Chalobah ahead of the summer transfer window. The Champions League finalists are expected to push hard for Chalobah, with the Italians thinking their formation and way of playing suits the Chelsea defender. It remains to be seen what Chalobah wants to do as he hopes to challenge for a place in the England squad for the European Championships next year.
There are reports Kalidou Koulibaly could be on the agenda in meetings between Chelsea and Inter, too, after a mixed debut season in England for the Senegal international. Koulibaly showed glimpses of why he is so highly-rated, but unfortunately they were just glimpses during the 2022/23 campaign.
Chelsea and Inter potentially have a lot of business to do together over the next few months so a strong relationship is needed in order to conduct matters efficiently. The Blues are confident they can prise Onana away from Italy, but less so with Maignan.
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