Chelsea told no after trying to offer £147,000-a-week man to club in exchange for ‘excellent’ target

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Chelsea have now been told to pay up after Inter Milan rejected the idea of a swap deal involving Andre Onana and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

That is according to Tutto Mercato Web in Italy.

However, the Blues still have a chance to sign Andre Onana.

What’s the story?

Well, Inter Milan didn’t like the idea of a swap deal, but the Italian giants did not issue a complete hands-off warning to Chelsea as they need to raise around €60m – €70m (£52m – £61m) to balance their finances.

Tutto Mercato Web believe the Italian giants have therefore put a €45m (£39m) price tag on Onana’s head.

The Cameroon international, who was described as “excellent” by Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, has enjoyed an fantastic debut season at the San Siro following his move from Ajax in July.

Onana has kept 19 clean sheets in 39 appearances across all competitions to help Inter Milan into the Champions League final, while they also sit third in Serie A and picked up the Coppa Italia once again.

Tutto Mercato Web state that Chelsea will offload at least one – if not both – of Kepa and Edouard Mendy this summer, with the goalkeeping duo struggling to assert themselves at Stamford Bridge.

Kepa is said to earn £147,000-a-week while Mendy is on £50,000-a-week, so with Chelsea needing to make sales to balance the books, we would presume it is more likely that the Spain international is offloaded.

Chelsea have cheaper alternatives to Onana

£39m is a lot for Chelsea to spend on a new goalkeeper when the need for a new striker and central midfielder is far more important.

Therefore, it would probably be worth pursuing a cheaper option in between the sticks for now.

One potential move could be a cut-price deal for Keylor Navas.

According to Foot Mercato in France, Chelsea are interested in the Costa Rica international, who is keen to stay in England after his loan at Nottingham Forest ended.

PSG are believed to be willing to offload Navas for just a few million, so perhaps it would make more sense to target the 36-year-old before making another push for Onana in 2024.