Chelsea ‘alert’ Man City to possible summer transfer with midfielder set to make ‘big decision’
Manchester City are keen on signing Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Blues are in the middle of huge changes with Graham Potter looking to gel numerous new signings from over the last couple of transfer windows after Todd Boehly and co. forked out £600m for players.
It has not helped them on the pitch yet with their 2-0 loss to Tottenham over the weekend putting them 14 points behind fourth-placed Spurs with Chelsea still sitting in tenth position.
Potter is coming under increasing pressure at Stamford Bridge with just one win from their last 11 matches in all competitions and there is reportedly growing unrest amongst the squad.
After all the investment in the squad, Chelsea must now turn their attention to some of the players approaching the end of their contracts with the Daily Telegraph claiming Man City are taking an interest in one of those players.
Kovacic has ‘attracted the interest of Manchester City with the midfielder facing a big decision over his Chelsea future’ with his contract expiring in under 18 months.
The Croatia international as well as Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva all have one year left on their deals at the end of the season.
Chelsea are ‘determined to avoid a scenario in which they all enter the final 12 months of their deals’ whether that is by contract renewal or by sale.
The report adds: ‘The situation is understood to have alerted City, whose manager Pep Guardiola is a big admirer of Kovacic and is expected to make changes to his midfield in the summer.’
It is understood that City showed an interest in Kovacic before he signed for the Blues in 2018 and that he ‘could provide a relatively cheap top-class option if he does not sign a new Chelsea contract’.
Potter was hit by more bad news on Tuesday as Chelsea announced that Silva has damaged his knee ligaments after being taken off against Tottenham at the weekend.
A statement read: “Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, Thiago underwent further assessment and a scan on his return to the training centre on Monday.
“Scan results from those assessments have confirmed damage to Thiago’s knee ligaments and he will now work closely with the club’s medical department during his rehabilitation to return to action as soon as possible.”
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