Chelsea's squad clear-out is underway and the latest name that is set to leave is midfielder Mateo Kovacic, as Fabrizio Romano reports that the Croatian international is set to join Manchester City. The fee has been agreed between the two clubs at £30million, with personal terms agreed.
The 29-year-old was reaching his final year under contract at Stamford Bridge and with a huge squad turnover expected, a move seemed likely. Kovacic looks set to join a whole host of players leaving, with N'Golo Kante the first to make the move on a free transfer to Al-Ittihad.
Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly have all agreed deals to join clubs in Saudi Arabia too, at Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal respectively. Kai Havertz also looks set to leave as an agreement is close between Chelsea and Arsenal over a possible sale at £65million.
That would make for six early exits from the Blues, with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah all linked with a move too. The move for Kovacic in particular does change the market somewhat though.
That being for their London rivals Arsenal, who are in the market for a midfielder or two themselves as part of a revamp for their central ranks. football.london understands that a move for Declan Rice is a top priority for the Gunners, with two initial bids rejected so far.
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The north London side face pressure from Manchester City in their pursuit though, with the Premier League champions said to be monitoring a switch, following a potential exit for Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer. The signing of Kovacic appears to fill that gap instead.
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With that deal going through, it gives a huge boost to Arsenal and to Chelsea, in handing the former a hand in landing Rice and the latter a windfall in the transfer market.
