Longtime Chelsea midfielderNāGolo Kanteās future is a major conundrum for the club.After shelling out more thanā¬611 millionon new players during the ongoingseason, the Blues will need to downsize the roster and recover costs during the next summer transfer window.
In June, Kanteās lucrative dealwill expire, and the Blues are said to be interested in retaining him at the Stamford Bridge.A major roadblock, though, is his hefty earnings, which are said to beĀ£290,000 per week on his present agreementwith the club,as reported by Football Insider.
This puts him in the upper echelon of Chelseaās salary scale andamong the highest-paid playerslikeReece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Raheem Sterling.In addition, the midfielder missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to a significant hamstring injury that kept him out of action for most of the 2022-23 season. These factors may explain why negotiations on a new two-year contract have stalled thus far.
What next forNāGolo Kante?
But now shocking reports claim that Kante has decided to switch to Arsenalthis summer when his contract with Chelsea end. Spanish outlet Fichajes reports that the midfielder has said āyesā to joining the Gunners after agreeing to terms with the clubās contract offer.
As Mikel Artetaās side previously acquired Jorginho from their Premier League rivals in January, they see the Frenchmanas a good bargain as he will be a free agent shortly. The report adds thatthe Gunners seem like a more attractive option than his current side since they are currently in a championship race whereas the Blues are floundering.
Despite reports of progress in negotiations for a new two-year contract, the 2018 World Cup winner with France has spent the last seven years at Stamford Bridge after arriving from Leicester and could finally opt to leave.According to the source, the 32-year-old ace has decided to sign a two-year dealto stay in London after Arsenal gave him the same conditions as Chelsea.
