Chelsea reject Inter offers for Kanté, including Eriksen in part-exchange
Chelsea have rejected an offer for N’Golo Kanté from Internazionale that included Marcelo Brozovic and have told the Italian club they are not interested in a deal involving the former Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Antonio Conte has made Kanté a top target and Inter, who do not have a big budget, are weighing up whether to continue their pursuit of the midfielder. Conte will have to raise funds through player sales if he wants to make a straight cash offer.
Inter were left disappointed after testing the water with a part-exchange offer including Brozovic, the 27-year-old Croatia midfielder. Chelsea are not in a rush to sell Kanté, even though injury problems restricted him to 28 appearances last season, and are not interested in Brozovic.
Frank Lampard said in June he wanted to keep Kanté and Conte knows it will not be easy to prise the France international from his old club. Kanté shone after being signed by Conte for Chelsea four years ago, helping the Italian win the Premier League in 2017, but reports in France have suggested he is happy at Stamford Bridge.
Inter, who signed Aleksandar Kolarov from Roma this week, also asked Chelsea whether they would be interested in Eriksen as part of a deal for Kanté or in a straight transfer. The Dane has struggled since leaving Tottenham for £18m in January and Chelsea are not in the market for attacking players after spending heavily on Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech.
There remains a slight possibility Chelsea could be tempted into selling Kanté for the right price. They are close to signing the Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and are then expected to target the West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. However Lampard would favour selling Jorginho rather than Kanté.