"They've sold him to a better side" – Glen Johnson slams Chelsea for selling 'world-class' player to Premier League rivals

Former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has claimed that the Blues will regret offloading Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City this summer.

The Blues are currently in the midst of a squad rebuilding process after finishing in 12th place in the Premier League last season. So far, they have sold players like N'Golo Kante, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy.

Kovacic, 29, was also offloaded alongside a number of other first-team stars past month. He joined Manchester City in a deal worth up to £30 million, penning a four-year contract at the reigning treble champions.

Speaking to Betfred, Johnson rued Chelsea's decision to sell Kovacic:

"I think he's going to be one of the biggest losses for Chelsea this summer. They've got decent money for him, but they've sold him to a better side that he's going to improve. It was obviously a tough decision to sell him to City, but he's going to thrive there as he's going to be surrounded by world-class players and he himself is."

Johnson, who lifted two Premier League titles at the Blues, continued:

"It's good business from City's side. They have top quality players in almost all positions, so Kovacic doesn't even need to be an all-round midfielder, he just needs to be a rock for them in midfield and then play it to the fellow world-class player who's next to him."

Kovacic, who is expected to fill the void left by Ilkay Gundogan's exit at City, made 221 appearances across all competitions for the Stamford Bridge side. He netted six goals and laid out 15 assists along the way.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have already splashed around £82 million to sign two players this summer – Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson.

Chelsea lodge whopping £85 million bid to sign midfield target this summer: Reports

According to TCTelevision journalist Diego Arcos, Chelsea have tabled an offer of an upfront £75 million plus £10 million in instalments to sign Moises Caicedo this summer. The Blues are said to be in talks with Brighton & Hove Albion about the payment structure of the transfer.

Should Caicedo join Mauricio Pochettino's outfit this summer, he would emerge as a first-team starter for them. He would fill the void left by N'Golo Kante, who joined Al-Ittihad on a free switch earlier last month.

Caicedo, whose current deal is set to expire in June 2027, has scored two goals and provided three assists in 53 matches for Brighton so far.

Chelsea are currently in the middle of a midfield revamp. The Blues have also parted ways with Ruben Loftus-Cheek with Conor Gallagher reportedly also being targetted by other clubs. Chelsea themselves are also in the market for other midfielders, including Southampton's Romeo Lavia, as per reports.