Chelsea are weighing up a move for out-of-favour Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie with Mauricio Pochettino a big fan, according to reports in Spain.
The west London club are in the market for a new midfielder this summer and want a defence-conscious player to partner £107million January signing Enzo Fernandez.
They made a play for Sporting's Manuel Ugarte but he elected to join Paris Saint-Germain instead, while they have now switched their attention to Brighton's Moises Caicedo.
The Ecuadorian enjoyed a superb campaign last season and Chelsea had two bids rejected in January before paying Fernandez's release clause, with Brighton likely to want in excess of £80m now.
Should that deal prove too difficult or expensive to pull off, the Blues might look at cheaper alternatives and Kessie would certainly fit the bill.
According to Spanish outlet Relevo, the Ivory Coast international is surplus to requirements at Camp Nou and Barcelona are actively looking to find a buyer.
He is one of many players being targeted as part of the drive to lure big-name stars to Saudi Arabia and is the subject of a bid from Al-Ahli.
The Saudi club are prepared to pay Barca around £17m for the midfielder - who joined the club on a free transfer from AC Milan a year ago - and will hand him an annual salary worth £8.6m.
But Kessie is not convinced about leaving European football just yet and would be more open to a move to the Premier League with Chelsea.
He is attracted to the idea of testing himself in England while Pochettino is a big fan, having previously looked into buying him when he was manager at both Spurs and PSG. Chelsea were also linked with a move in January.
With N'Golo Kante having left on a free transfer, Ruben Loftus-Cheek set to join AC Milan, Mateo Kovacic having joined Manchester City and Mason Mount being pursued by Manchester United, Chelsea have few options in midfield.
Even if they sign Caicedo, the Blues will likely need more options in the middle of the pitch and Kessie could be an ideal, cut-price addition to provide competition and a more defensive presence alongside Fernandez.
Chelsea expect to be very busy this summer and are currently working hard to offload a host of fringe players, with their budget for new additions impacted by the amount of money they manage to bring in from sales.
Kai Havertz has now joined Arsenal in a £65m deal while as many as four more players could join Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly in swapping west London for Saudi Arabia, with the likes of Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi expected to leave too.
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