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The Blues are looking to sign the 28-year-old to offer competition to the Spanish international, who has failed to impress at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have made an upgraded offer of € 20 million (£ 18 million / $ 24 million) for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. objective You can confirm.
With the future of current No. 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga in doubt, the Blues have identified Mendy as an ideal choice to provide competition to the Spaniard.
Sun reported earlier in the week that Rennes turned down Chelsea’s offer of 17 million euros (£ 15 million / $ 20 million) for Mendy, and Frank Lampard’s team has now returned with an improved offer.
The Blues made Kepa the most expensive goalkeeper in history in 2018, paying £ 72 million ($ 93 million) to bring him to Stamford Bridge from Athletic. However, the 25-year-old has not lived up to expectations in London.
Lampard eliminated Kepa at the end of the 2019-20 season after a series of inconsistent performances, opting for veteran Willy Caballero.
The Blues boss now hopes to bring another option between the positions, although Kepa could head for an outing with Sevilla and Valencia having registered interest in a loan.
But Kepa’s salary could prove problematic for La Liga teams, meaning Chelsea could have three goalkeepers in their first team should Mendy arrive.
Rennes is determined to hang on to the 28-year-old, however, after the Senegalese international helped his team clinch their first place in the Champions League with a third-place finish in Ligue 1 last season.
Mendy only arrived in Rennes last summer after several solid campaigns with Stade de Reims, and is under contract until 2023.
Having started last week’s first Ligue 1 match against Lille, Mendy missed his team’s victory over Montpellier on Saturday for personal reasons.
Rennes has yet to respond to Chelsea’s offer as Lampard continues to spend heavily in hopes of building a 2020-21 Premier League title contender.
The Blues have already brought in a host of new faces before the start of the season, including Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva.
Their most expensive signing also looks to be yet to come as they continue to move closer to a move for Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz.
The 21-year-old would cost Chelsea £ 90 million ($ 118 million), with £ 72 million ($ 95 million) up front and another £ 18 million ($ 24 million) in installments.
