Transfer gossip: Chelsea willing to sell Kante and Barkley, Times say
Some of the transfer speculation involving Chelsea in Friday’s newspapers…
N’Golo Kante is among 13 players Chelsea are willing to part with in order to make room for new signings such as Kai Havertz, according to The Times.
The newspaper say Ross Barkley, Andreas Christensen and Jorginho are also among those Chelsea are willing to sell to raise funds for new arrivals.
The Blues have clinched deals for Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech and are reportedly prepared to spend around £75m on Bayer Leverkusen winger Havertz.
The Times say Chelsea are therefore looking to balance the books, with Pedro and Willian set to depart when their contracts end.
Olivier Giroud, Emerson Palmieri, Marcos Alonso, Baba Rahman, Kurt Zouma, Tiemou Bakayoko and Michy Batshuayi are also potentially available for moves, the Times say.
Kai Havertz to Chelsea?
The Daily Express say Chelsea’s hopes of signing Havertz might have improved.
It follows reports that Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have dropped out of the running to sign him.
Both clubs were linked with Havertz, who is one of the most sought-after players in Europe.
The Daily Telegraph previously reported that Bayern were in “pole position” to sign Havertz because Chelsea were not willing to meet the asking price, which is reported to be around £90m.
The Express claimed this could result in the Germany international instead joining Manchester United or Liverpool, who have also been linked with him.
The Express declared that the Blues’ “transfer maestro” Marina Granovskaia would have to negotiate a deal or manager Frank Lampard “might be forced to see Havertz rock up at one of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals” next season.
However, the Telegraph later declared “there is a belief the price might drop” if Leverkusen fail to qualify for the Champions League.
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