Chelsea have reportedly decided to change their stance on Mateo Kovacic’s future at the club in the last months after he showed his leadership qualities.
Kovacic is one of several Chelsea players whose current contracts expire in 2024.
In a report from last month, the Blues reportedly had not started negotiations over a new contract with the 28-year-old with the player already considering his options.
Bear in mind that, recent reports suggest that the Chelsea ownership group would like to avoid situations where players are in the final year of their deal without a guarantee of an extension.
Instead, they would be prepared to listen to offers for these players.
Journalist Ben Jacobs, however, claims that Chelsea are keen on keeping the midfielder.
“Chelsea have kind of changed their position a little bit because they’ve got rid of Jorginho and they realised that Kovacic has got leadership and can also chip in with the odd goal,” Jacobs told TEAMtalk.
“Their preference would be to try and agree something if they can, that keeps him at the football club.
“So whereas maybe towards the end of last year, we were talking about Kovacic as being a player more likely to leave than stay.
“Now I think Kovacic is, arguably, more likely to stay than to leave.”
Kovacic has recently worn the captain’s armband for Chelsea in the last few matches amid Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva’s injury absences.
This likely helped the Croatia international prove a point to the club that he offers a lot more than just his exceptional dribbling skills.
In addition to that, Kovacic also links up well with Enzo Fernandez in midfield, as Christian Pulisic recently pointed out.
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