The future of N'Golo Kante remains up in the air as we approach the end of his contract at Chelsea.
As reported by football.london back in March, conversations over a new contract between the Blues and the Frenchman were progressing well. However, ever since then, not much has happened in terms of progression. Chelsea now face the prospect of Kante becoming a free agent when his contract is due to expire on June 30.
There is interest from Saudi Arabia in the France international, but nothing is advanced yet with Kante clearly considering his options. Whether or not Chelsea and the 32-year-old can reach an agreement between now and the end of the month remains to be seen but there is a serious possibility he will become a free agent – at the time of writing.
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There are set to be talks between incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino and Kante in the coming days to try and establish what is next for the 2018 World Cup winner. Pochettino officially starts his role as Chelsea boss at the start of next month but will be doing some work behind the scenes over June to try and give the club a much-needed headstart for the upcoming summer transfer window.
One man that could have a bit of a say in whether Kante stays or not is Moises Caicedo. football.london understands Chelsea are set to push to try and sign the Brighton midfielder in the coming weeks after missing out on Manuel Ugarte. Kante will want to see midfield reinforcements at Stamford Bridge this summer in order to make the side more competitive once again and playing alongside someone who has previously stated that he idolises Paul Pogba could work in the Chelsea midfielder's favour.
Kante and Pogba won every single one of their first 30 matches for France where they started alongside each other, which included the country's World Cup win five years ago. Caicedo, who also revealed that Kante is one of his favourite midfielders to watch, told Brighton's website in 2022 that he tried to model his game on a mixture of the two French players.
"As a midfielder, Pogba was always my favourite player," Caicedo said last year. "I also liked N'Golo Kante, for the defensive side, but Pogba was the player who has always excited me, for the way he gets on the ball and breaks forward.
"Manchester United was always my team because of Pogba and, before that Valencia. He was a winger, then a right-back, and was strong, fast and very intelligent. He was the perfect player for the Premier League and if I can go on and enjoy a career like him, then it will be a dream."
Chelsea have a confidence they can lure Caicedo to Stamford Bridge despite there being teams – like Arsenal and Liverpool – who can offer the midfielder European football next season. It will not be easy, however, or cheap for that matter. After Caicedo signed a new contract at the Amex Stadium earlier in the year, Brighton are in a strong position and could be looking for something around the £100million-mark if they were to let the midfielder leave the club this summer.
It does not help Chelsea, either, that the Seagulls have just agreed a deal with Liverpool to see Alexis Mac Allister move to Anfield. It's set to be a long summer of negotiations for Chelsea but they will do their absolute best to try and sign Caicedo to begin a new and exciting chapter under Pochettino.
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