Chelsea are not expected to pursue either Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne or Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane this summer, according to a recent report.
Enzo Maresca recently hinted that Chelsea will target experienced players in the summer transfer market to balance out their remarkably young side, leading to links with former midfielder De Bruyne and ex-Tottenham Hotspur star Kane.
De Bruyne, who will be 34 years old in June, is leaving City this summer and will be available on a free transfer, while Kane has a release clause that could facilitate a Bayern departure as Chelsea eye attacking reinforcements. However, according to The Telegraph, neither will be considered.
They reveal that De Bruyne “could cause a selection headache” as he would battle for minutes with former City teammate Cole Palmer, while the Belgian has also show significant signs of “slowing down” following another injury-hit campaign.
The figures involved in signing Kane are deemed “highly prohibitive” and the striker’s release clause also needed to be triggered during the most recent winter transfer window to have made a summer deal possible as per previous reports from Germany.
Chelsea’s striker search has also included links with Victor Osimhen and Ollie Watkins but there are “attitude concerns” among English clubs regarding the former and the latter’s age and dimishing goalscoring returns could dissuade Chelsea from making a move.
In their hunt for more experience, Chelsea reportedly made an approach to sign Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, who was set to be out of contract this summer but instead signed a fresh contract with the Reds.
The Telegraph add, however, that Chelsea are not interested in signing older players with vast experience. Their plan is to instead ensure that the “majority” of their new recruits have “plenty of first-team games under their belts” regardless of age.
