Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana appears to have confirmed Edouard Mendy's exit before the club have made the move official.
Goalkeeper Mendy is on his way to the Saudi Pro League, with Al Ahli set to announce a deal for the Senegal international. The move would see him become the third Blues star to move to Saudi Arabia in this window, after N'Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly completed moves of their own.
With the £16m deal on the verge of completion, Chelsea will continue their efforts to trim the squad going into the new season. However, by breaking the news before the club did so, Fofana could find himself risking the wrath of the club's higher-ups.
"My big brother, I will miss you. All the best to you and your family," Fofana wrote - in French - on an Instagram Stories post dedicated to Mendy.
The former Leicester centre-back had also shared a message for Mateo Kovacic, who completed a permanent move to Manchester City on Tuesday. "All the best Zizou" the message read, in an apparent comparison between Kovacic and the Croatian's former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.
"It’s been an incredible pleasure to play for such a great club and win some of the biggest trophies in the sport," Kovacic had earlier wrote in an Instagram post shared by his ex-colleague Fofana. "Chelsea is a club I have loved every second of being at but the time has come for me to move on."
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An outlay of £500m on new signings last season left Chelsea with a bloated squad, and the team finished 12th after owner Todd Boehly sacked two managers. New boss Mauricio Pochettino is due to take charge on July 1, and efforts have been made to trim the squad before the Argentine's arrival.
Kante, Kovacic and Koulibaly have all moved on, with Mendy set to follow along with Kai Havertz and - potentially - other first-teamers. Christopher Nkunku is the first senior arrival of the summer, with the foward's move from RB Leipzig confirmed in June.
Koulibaly's departure came after just one year in England, with the former Napoli star joining Al Hilal. The Senegal star spoke highly of the "fantastic" Premier League despite a tough 12 months, but still aimed a parting shot at his former club.
"They expected the Koulibaly from Napoli, but I don’t think my season has been that bad," he told Corriere dello Sport. "I needed time: in one year, I couldn’t demonstrate what I would have wanted due to the choices of the manager and the club.
“I had no guarantees of always playing: I’ve always been serious and professional, but I don’t like being on the bench doing nothing. I prefer a place where they want me, where I’m at the centre of a project and I can be an example to young people.”
