Chelsea ‘sound out’ £55m Everton star amid Caicedo ‘worry’ – ‘Absolutely’ wants to leave

Chelsea have reportedly ‘sounded out’ Everton star Amadou Onana over a potential move to Stamford Bridge this summer to replace Mateo Kovacic.

The Croatia international, joined the Blues from Real Madrid in 2019 for around £40m after a successful loan spell in the 2018/19 campaign, has joined City for £30m as a replacement for Barcelona-bound Ilkay Gundogan, though Declan Rice could also be on his way to the Etihad as Arsenal appear to have f***ed it.

Kovacic made 221 appearances for Chelsea, winning the Club World Cup, Champions League and Europa League in a stint at the club in which he has been a crucial member of the squad.

He will be a difficult man to replace and Chelsea hope they can strike a deal with Brighton for Moises Caicedo.

The Ecuador international is Mauricio Pochettino’s top midfield target this summer and reports suggest they will make a fresh bid once their multiple departures are confirmed after their initial bid of £60m was rejected by Brighton.

It’s claimed the Seagulls want £100m for the 21-year-old, which will likely be within Chelsea’s reach after they sell their best players to Premier League rivals and palm four or five off on Saudi Arabia.

But it is also an awful lot for a player who’s had just one full season in the top flight.

Evening Standard claim the Blues have two alternatives in mind in Southampton’s Romeo Lavia and Everton’s Amadou Onana.

Lavia was the subject of a £50m deadline day bid from Chelsea last summer, despite only moving to Southampton from Manchester City for £10.5m weeks beforehand.

Saints rejected that bid but are now thought to be open to selling Lavia for the same price having been relegated to the Championship.

Everton are also thought to be open to Onana’s sale, and have slapped a £55m price tag on his head.

Belgian outlet Le Soir claim the midfielder ‘absolutely’ wants to leave this summer having been made aware of interest and believes he is no longer on the “same wavelength” as the Toffees. Essentially, they’re a bit sh*t for him.

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And Chelsea may well be ‘sounding out’ Lavia and Onana due to an Arsenal ‘worry’ with regards to Caicedo.

The Gunners appeared to be out of the running for the Brighton star as they put all their eggs in the Declan Rice basket, but with Manchester City swooping to hijack that deal, football.london reckon their interest in Caicedo may return.

READ MORE: Man Utd shouldn’t give Chelsea the excuse they need to sell Mason Mount

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