N’Golo Kante has emerged as a potential target for Barcelona this summer, while fellow Chelsea teammate Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang could make a return to Camp Nou
N’Golo Kante and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are summer targets for Barcelona.
While Chelsea team-mate Hakim Ziyech is wanted by Napoli and could be used as bait in any potential move to take Victor Osimhen or Khvica Kvaratskhelia to Stamford Bridge.
A huge summer clearout is on the cards in south-west London after Todd Boehly and fellow co-owners splashed £600million on new signings over the past 12 months.
And while the departures of Aubameyang and Ziyech will come as little surprise, the fact Barca believe Kante might be available will likely divide opinion amongst Chelsea supporters.
The World Cup-winning midfielder’s contract expires in the summer, although the Blues have an option to extend his stay. That option runs out in May, though, and if Boehly and Co haven’t triggered it by then it will open the door to suitors.
Barcelona want to offer Kante a two-year deal, although given the Spaniards’ financial situation, his wages will not match those he collects at Chelsea.
Barca hope to raise around £180million in sales this summer that they can reinvest in at least three top-quality players.
Boss Xavi has handed a list of proposed targets to the Catalan club’s hierarchy and, like Kante, Aubameyang appears on it.
N’Golo Kante could leave Chelsea in the summer transfer window ( Image: Getty Images)
The former Arsenal captain joined Chelsea from Barcelona in September but has had a miserable time back in London.
And Barca, for whom he scored 13 goals in 24 games, will offer him an exit route, albeit on vastly reduced wages and only if they can get him for next to nothing having sold him for around £10m.
Xavi and Co want an answer from Aubameyang by the first week in June.
Meanwhile, Napoli’s interest in Ziyech plays into Chelsea’s interest in Nigerian striker Osimhen, who is also in Manchester United’s sights, and Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia, with whom Liverpool have been linked.
Ziyech would have joined Paris Saint-Germain in January but for an administration error and he will be on his way at the end of the season.
His wage demands could be the only stumbling block for the Serie A team given they are unlikely to get anywhere near the money Chelsea pay him on a contract which runs until 2025.
Source: mirror.co.uk
