Chelsea considered move for €157,000-a-week Serie A stopper this summer
Kepa Arrizabalaga’s failure to convince manager Frank Lampard last season saw Chelsea bring in a new shot-stopper in the summer transfer window.
The Blues took Edouard Mendy from Ligue 1 side Rennes and he arrived at Stamford Bridge last month.
Prior to landing the Senegal international, the Premier League giants had their sights set on AC Milan star Gianluigi Donnarumma.
This is according to Calciomercato, who state the Blues were the ‘most interested’ club in snapping up the 21-year-old.
Chelsea were joined by other suitors, including the reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid.
The English side ‘pulled out’ of signing the Italy star after investing in excess of €20 million to secure Mendy’s services.
As per the report, the Serie A outfit have ‘not received any real signals’ from Chelsea, which suggests they never converted their interest into a proposal for the Milan keeper.
That’s because the likes of the Blues and other clubs felt the goalkeeper wants to remain at the San Siro, even though he has less than a year left on his deal.
According to a recent report by an Italian media outlet Calciomercato, work is in progress at the club to extend Donnarumma’s contract.
However, Chelsea wanted a £5 million loan sum and Antonio Rudiger’s entire £150,000 per week wages to be paid during the summer window, reports say.
The German centre-half was desperate for a late move away from the club having been frozen out of Frank Lampard’s squad this campaign. But according to The Athletic, interested clubs were put off by the cost of taking Antonio on loan.