Chelsea make huge Kepa & Mendy decisions as £50m transfer talks to sign Guardiola admirer & Man United target set to resume

Chelsea are set for a goalkeeping overhaul this summer with the club ready to sell both Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy to make way for a new number one.

New head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign a new goalkeeper once he officially starts on July 1, with the 2023 summer transfer window opening on June 14.

Kepa and Mendy are facing the axe ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, with talkSPORT reporting that Chelsea are ‘open to offers’ for both Kepa and Mendy.

With their departures possible, incomings are required and Inter Milan’s Andre Onana is the club’s ‘primary target’, as reported by Nizaar Kinsella of the Evening Standard.

Chelsea will ‘step up’ their pursuit of the 27-year-old following the conclusion of the Champions League final, which saw Inter suffer a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, giving Onana the chance to speak on his future for the first time after the loss in Turkey.

He told reporters: “I’m so, so happy at Inter. At this professional level you never know what happens. I’m available for Inter, they decide and I will accept what they want. I’m happy at Inter.”

Nizaar Kinsella claims Inter want at least £50 million, with other reports offering a more specific number of £55 million, with talks now set to re-open after initial discussions were held in April.

Manchester United are on the search for a new goalkeeper and could rival Chelsea for Onana as they look set to miss out on Brentford’s David Raya, who is close to agreeing personal terms to join Tottenham Hotspur.

Prior to the Champions League final, Man City boss Pep Guardiola was full of admiration for Onana, admitting: “Identifying the space and emptying the midfield is a special quality. Normally, teams have great keepers, but he is exceptional with his feet.”

Post-match in Istanbul, Guardiola added: “When you have a goalkeeper like Onana who can read perfectly where everyone is to pass to, with Calhanoglu and Barella, then the strikers hold it up and move the ball around. It is very, very difficult. It would be a tiny bit easier without this goalkeeper, but still very tough.”

Chelsea have also expressed interest in Mike Maignan but AC Milan are reluctant to allow the France international to leave. Nizaar Kinsella adds that Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili is the club’s second-choice target if a deal for Onana fails to materialise.

Talks with Inter Milan are also likely to involve the future of Romelu Lukaku, who spent the 2022/23 season on loan at the San Siro. It remains unclear if Lukaku is wanted by Pochettino at Stamford Bridge next season.