1 day ago
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Chelsea have cooled their interest in Mike Maignan after failing to agree a fee with Milan for the goalkeeper before the Club World Cup but have made a new £42m bid for Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens.
Chelsea commenced talks with Milan after being presented with an opportunity to sign Maignan. The France international has a year left on his deal and has indicated that he wants to join Chelsea.
Chelsea’s hope has been to push transfers for Maignan and Gittens through before Tuesday’s 7pm BST registration deadline for the group stages of the Club World Cup, which begins on Sunday. However, the Uefa Conference League winners were not willing to overpay for Maignan given that the 29-year-old will be available on a free transfer next summer. They were willing to pay around €15m (£12.7m) for the former Lille goalkeeper, with Milan demanding €25m. The clubs have been unable to reach an agreement and negotiations have ended for now.
There remains a chance that Chelsea will revisit the situation with Maignan later this summer. The transfer window reopens on Monday, enabling teams in the Club World Cup to register new players for the tournament’s knockout phase. Maignan can discuss a pre-contract with foreign clubs from next January.
Chelsea, who travel to the USA on Friday and play LAFC in their opening game in Atlanta on Monday, have refused to be pressured into meeting Milan’s demands. They remain happy with their quartet of goalkeepers, Robert Sánchez, Filip Jorgensen, Djordje Petrovic and Mike Penders. Sánchez excelled at the end of last season, recovering from a dip in form to help Enzo Maresca’s side qualify for the Champions League. There is huge excitement about Penders following the highly rated 19-year-old’s arrival from Genk. Marcus Bettinelli, Chelsea’s current No 3, has joined Manchester City.
The Blues who have already boosted their attack by signing Liam Delap for £30m, are also looking for a right-footed left winger. They had a bid rejected for Gittens but have now tried again to seal a deal for the 20-year-old, who has agreed a seven-year contract with Chelsea . Dortmund, who are also in the Club World Cup, want up to £50m for the England Under-21 international.
