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Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal to sign goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from French side Rennes.
Frank Lampard prioritised signing a goalkeeper in this transfer window, with the Chelsea head coach having lost faith in the world's most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The Athletic are reporting that talks are progressing well, with Mendy expected to become a Chelsea player “within days or the next few weeks”.
The report also stated that Chelsea to have already had an offer worth £14 million rejected by Rennes, but the two clubs are involved in further negotiations now and are confident of reaching an agreement in the next few days.
Chelsea were initially said to be keen on selling kepa, with initial interest coming from a few clubs in the goalkeeper's native Spain. But The Athletic report said that a combination of Chelsea's asking price, and the former Athletic Bilbao man's wages meant that none of the interest developed into anything concrete.
Chelsea have been linked with a host of goalkeepers, with Jan Oblak, Andre Onana and Nick Pope leading the way, in terms of being the club's preferred options. It is now being said that those targets were drawn up with the hope that they could find a buyer for Kepa, but the club moved on to Mendy after the acceptance that the Spaniard would remain at the club.
Mendy will compete with Kepa to be Chelsea no.1
Mendy, a Senegalese international, will initially join Chelsea as a competitor for the no.1 spot with Kepa, with the Spaniard definitely set to remain at Stamford Bridge, at least for the near future.
Speaking to Sport.cz, Cech said that Kepa would stay at Chelsea, but that the club wanted to sign an upgrade to compete with him, after Lampard turned to Argentine veteran Willy Caballero in the final few weeks of last season.
"Additions will be made to the squad, perhaps even in goal, and this is what is being discussed now. But nobody is giving up on Kepa and we all hope he has a great future," Cech said.
Chelsea have already signed six players in this transfer window. Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have bolstered their attack, while former Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Malang Sarr have been signed to boost the club's defensive reserves.
Lampardd is also behind a defensive midfielder, with West Ham's Declan Rice and Lille's Boubakary Soumare both targets to fill that position.
