Chelsea ‘open talks’ with AC Milan ace Gianluigi Donnarumma despite Edouard Mendy signing

Premier League match preview: Chelsea v Man City

Chelsea have reportedly made contact with AC Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, despite only signing Edouard Mendy in the summer window. Mendy was signed from Rennes after Kepa Arrizabalaga started the season in poor form.

Since signing, Mendy has enjoyed an impressive start to his Stamford Bridge career, keeping ten clean sheets in his opening 19 games for the club.

Chelsea splashed out a world record fee to land Kepa back in 2018, but Frank Lampard has revealed he faces no pressure to bring him back into the fold.

“There’s no pressure [to pick Kepa], and I am not saying it is being spoken about, it is to win games.

“I do that through selections game-by-game and Mendy, of course, has made himself a permanent fixture at this point.

JUST IN: Real Madrid: Eden Hazard is Pep Guardiola’s dream signing at Man City

“The pressure to win games means I pick people in form whether it is a striker, winger or goalkeeper, whoever. “

However, according to the Sun, the Blues could launch a surprise bid for Donnarumma, who is out of contract at the San Siro at the end of the season.

Serie A rivals Juventus and Inter are also believed to be in the race for the Italian international, while Milan hope to tie him to a new deal.

Based on reports in Italy, the Rossoneri have offered Donnarumma a £6m-per-year contract, but he is still said to be mulling over his options.

DON’T MISS: 
Arsenal fans have Willian worry ahead of West Brom clash after tweet [TRANSFERS]
Arsenal star William Saliba ‘ready to quit’ club after crunch meeting [RUMOURS]
Arsenal chief Edu should turn to Man Utd to solve transfer dilemma [GOSSIP]

Speaking last year, Milan’s technical director Paulo Maldini said his side were in no rush to finalise a new deal for the stopper.

“He has played 220 games with Milan at his age, that’s absolutely uncommon. The more he goes on, the more he becomes a leader,” Maldini said in September.

“He is a leader in training and with his behaviour. His growth has been truly exponential.

“We must try, it could happen in a week, ten days, 20 days, we are not in a hurry.

“We are in this situation now, we know, so ten or 15 more days won’t change anything.”

With just months left on his deal, Donnarumma is now able to negotiate with the likes of Chelsea, ahead of what would be a pre-contract agreement with the player.

Lampard’s side spent more than £200m in the summer window, with Mendy one of seven players signed by the Blues.

Asked about their plans in the window, which opened on January 2, Lampard refused to publicly reveal his plans, but admitted he did have some ‘ideas’.

He said:  “I’m not sure yet. I have ideas. We have a big squad, we will see if that changes.

“We will see if we feel we can strengthen in the right way but we are not jumping up and down to do so. It’s a long month.”

Source: Read Full Article