Barcelona midfield target likely to sign a new deal with Chelsea – David Ornstein

After Jorginho’s agent confirmed earlier today that Chelsea had tabled a new contract offer for the midfielder, the Blues are reportedly making positive strides in their attempt to tie down another Barcelona target, N’Golo Kante.

This claim comes from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, who is reporting that Chelsea are now increasingly confident about their chances of keeping the 31-year-old midfielder beyond the current season.

Kante has been at Chelsea since 2016 and has won every possible trophy with the west London giants. The Frenchman, however, has been struggling with injury problems over the past eighteen months or so.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season and Chelsea looking for midfielders in the market, speculations had been rife that the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner could be on the move as a free agent in the summer.

And Barcelona had been touted as Kante’s possible destination. The Catalan giants are on the lookout for a new defensive midfielder amid uncertainty surrounding the future of club captain Sergio Busquets.

Kante, given that he would have been available for free, had emerged as one of the top targets for Barça, with club director Mateu Alemany reportedly working behind the scenes to close his signing.

But, now, it is being said that the ex-Leicester City ace could be close to renewing with Chelsea. Back in September, Kante had refused a verbal proposal for a two-year deal with an option of a third from Chelsea as he wanted a longer duration on his contract.

And following his injury problems in the aftermath of that, it was suspected that the midfielder could end up leaving. But, Chelsea are keen on retaining the veteran star who they see as a club legend and the latest talks have generated positive feelings within the camp that he could renew.

The duration of the contract remains an issue, but Chelsea are working on a compromise so that they retain their star midfielder, who is regarded as one of the best in his position when fit and available.

This development will come as a blow for Barcelona, especially as they are unlikely to be in a position to offer the terms that Chelsea would for Kante.

It remains to be seen whether the Catalans are forced to end their pursuit of the 31-year-old, but as things stand, there is optimism that he could sign a new deal with Chelsea.