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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jamie Kemble

Latest Chelsea transfer rumours: Kante sale, quartet to leave, £32m Maignan decision

Chelsea head into the new season with plenty of excitement after spending well over £200m overhauling the squad.

Kai Havertz joined the list of arrivals on Friday, Frank Lampard completing his seventh signing of the summer.

But there could well be more incomings with a goalkeeper and possibly a defensive midfielder still to be signed.

When Kai Havertz could join up with the Chelsea squad

And there will be some notable departures before the window slams shut, too.

Below we run you through the latest Blues transfer gossip.

Blues exodus

Chelsea are looking to offload up to four players this summer to offset some of their spending.

Kai Havertz has become the seventh player signed by Frank Lampard ahead of the new season.

The Bayer Leverkusen star took the Blues' spending past the £200m mark for this summer.

Kai Havertz signs for Chelsea alongside Head Coach Frank Lampard (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

And that means they may either sell or loan the likes of Jorginho, Emerson Palmieri, Fikayo Tomori and Tiemoue Bakayoko, according to reports.

Kante departure very much on the cards

Four exits could become five if transfer expert Ian MgGarry is to be believed.

"Chelsea are willing to let N'Golo Kante, a player who has been absolutely pivotal in a league-winning season for Chelsea, but they are willing to let him go," he said on the Transfer Window podcast.

"Obviously this comes with a bit of balancing the books because you don't spend £230m in one window without having to trim your squad.

"We know that Lampard follows the Mourinho template of liking to work with a core 18 or 19 players for the majority of the season and playing those players consistently, making changes when he has to and rotating when he has to.

N'Golo Kante struggled with several injuries last season (Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

"I think Frank is keen to trim the squad and make sure he's not got people hanging about as 'bodies', as he calls them.

"My understanding is that Kante is very much settled in England and would be resistant to leaving.

"His current contract with Chelsea is a very good one, it was upgraded two years ago.

"He's in no rush to leave Stamford Bridge or England for that matter.

"So that would be a persuasion on Chelsea's part as well as perhaps a payment, because he's not going to be asking for a transfer anytime soon.

"I think he feels like he's suffered a little bit in terms of a lack of game time last season."

Interest in keeper dropped

Chelsea have ended their interest in Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

That's according to the Daily Star, who say the Blues have walked away from any potential deal after learning the stopper would cost up to £32m.

Such a price may have been affordable for Chelsea, but given the amount they have already spent, it looks to be a reach for the goalkeeper position, particularly with Kepa likely to stay and fight for his place.

It seems efforts will be directed towards Rennes man Edouard Mendy instead to give Kepa that kick up the back-side.

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