Todd Boehly ‘insists’ on swap deal for £40m Serie A star as fourth Chelsea star proffered

Chelsea are very keen on making Inter Milan star Andre Onana their new No.1 and Todd Boehly will continue to offer players in a swap deal to ‘break’ the Serie A side’s resistance.

Onana joined Inter on a free transfer from Ajax last summer but is already heavily linked with a move away from the San Siro, with a report earlier this month claiming Chelsea were ‘manoeuvring themselves into pole position’ to sign the 27-year-old.

Edouard Mendy has lost his first team spot to Kepa Arrizabalaga, who’s improved dramatically, but not enough for Chelsea.

InterLive.it (via Sport Witness) claim Chelsea ‘really want’ Onana, who was hugely impressive in Inter’s Champions League semi-final win over AC Milan and has kept 19 clean sheets in his debut campaign for I Nerazzurri.

The Blues have reportedly offered Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah and Mendy in exchange, but Inter haven’t bitten yet, but with the ‘convenient solution’ of a swap in mind, Mateo Kovacic has now reportedly been mooted as an option.

The report states that Boehly not ‘insists’ on using the Croatia international in a dry exchange for Onana, and Inter are likely to be more interested given Kovacic’s success with them for a couple of seasons before moving to Real Madrid in 2015.

The midfielder – who’s also linked with Manchester City and Manchester United – is ‘still highly appreciated’ at the San Siro, and the Blues would be more than willing to see him move to Inter to avoid him signing for a Premier League rival.

But the fact remains that Inter want to keep Onana, so Chelsea may have to think again, perhaps offering a financial sweetener to the deal, to persuade them into parting with the 27-year-old.

Both Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand were hugely impressed with Onana’s display against AC Milan, as they shot down fellow pundit Michael Owen’s claim that no Inter player would get in either the Manchester City or Real Madrid teams.

Gerrard said: “What about the keeper? He’s very similar is he not? He could wear No.10 on his back! He’s like Ederson.

“All night he’s getting pressed, under pressure, sticky situations. He’s just calm, collected. He can play long, he can play short.

“I loved watching the keeper tonight, he was fantastic.”

Onana kept an eighth clean sheet in the Champions League this season and Rio Ferdinand echoed Gerrard’s praise of the Cameroonian.

“I agree with what Steven’s saying. A modern day goalkeeper, he’s top class. Takes the ball under pressure, doesn’t panic. Brings the other team onto him to create space around him. They’re going to need a big performance out of someone like him if they’re going to win.”

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