Mateo Kovacic will undergo a Manchester City medical on Friday as he finalises his high-profile transfer from Chelsea.
The Croatian midfielder has agreed personal terms with the reigning Premier League champions, who will pay an initial £25million fee to their rivals, potentially rising to £30m with add-ons.
Kovacic is set to undergo medical checks on Friday before officially completing his move to the Etihad Stadium.
Chelsea are content to offload the player given that he has just one year left to run on his current contract at Stamford Bridge and has not been offered an extension following a five-year spell that included 221 total appearances and major silverware including the Champions League, Europa League and FIFA Club World Cup.
Kovacic’s exit comes as part of a wider squad overhaul in west London before Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival as manager next month, with N’Golo Kante heading to Saudi Arabia on a lucrative contract with Al-Ittihad with his own Chelsea deal expiring.
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Forward Kai Havertz is set for a £65m move to Arsenal, while Kalidou Koulibaly will join Al-Hilal for £17m and Hakim Ziyech to Al-Nassr for £8m as Chelsea bid to balance the books and reduce the size of their bloated squad, with a June 30 deadline to include any player sales in their financial accounts for the 2022/23 season.
Nine more players could also depart, including Edouard Mendy, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, plus Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Marc Cucurella, Malang Sarr and Ethan Ampadu. Manchester United also continue negotiations over Mason Mount, meanwhile.
Chelsea want Brighton’s Moises Caicedo to fill the gap created by the exits of Kovacic and Kante, with Brighton braced for a fresh offer after rejecting an initial £60m bid for the Ecuador international a fortnight ago.
Caicedo wants to join Chelsea, who do not want to part with highly-rated young defender and former Brighton loanee Levi Colwill as part of the deal.
The Blues have sounded out Southampton’s Romeo Lavia and Everton’s Amadou Onana as potential alternatives to Caicedo. Chelsea are also on the verge of completing a £30m deal for Villarreal forward Nicolas Jackson.
