Chelsea hoped Pochettino’s arrival would keep £290,000-a-week man at the club, he could now leave

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The chances of N’Golo Kante leaving Chelsea are now growing as a move to Saudi Arabia becomes more and more likely.

The Telegraph believe there is now a real possibility of Chelsea losing the France international this summer as his contract expires at the end of June.

Let’s take a look at more details about the situation involving Chelsea and N’Golo Kante…

What’s the story?

Well – according to Fabrizio Romano – Saudi Arabia emissaries have travelled to London to present Kante with a €100m (£86m) offer to join either Al Ittihad and Al Nassr, when his contract with Chelsea expires.

The Telegraph believe the Chelsea No.7 had prioritised staying at Stamford Bridge and was close to signing a new deal in March, before talks stalled after he suffered another injury.

Now, it is said that Chelsea are not planning to enter a bidding war with the Saudi Arabian ambassadors, who are able to offer the Frenchman a deal closer to his £300,000-a-week demands.

Kante currently earns £290,000-a-week at Chelsea.

In regards to Chelsea’s offer, it is believed to be more structured around incentives, which reward Kante for playing time.

Clearly, there is a wariness from those at Stamford Bridge about overcommitting to a player who managed to make just nine appearances due to injury across the 2022/23 campaign, which is a sensible outlook in our view.

Chelsea hoped Pochettino would convince Kante

The Telegraph mention some interesting lines about Mauricio Pochettino and Kante in their article.

It is said that the Argentine wanted to sign the 32-year-old at PSG, and there was a belief at Stamford Bridge that the midfielder felt excited by the idea of working with the South American.

It is also said that Chelsea hoped Pochettino’s arrival would get Kante to agree to the highly incentivised contract currently left on the table in west London.

Now – however – interest from Saudi Arabia has thrown a spanner in the works, and it seems highly unlikely that Kante will be at Chelsea next season barring any surprise developments.