Chelsea’s move for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is ‘imminent’ after the club agreed a structured £25.74m deal for the Senegal international.
Despite claims that he’s happy with Kepa following Monday’s 3-1 win against Brighton, Frank Lampard is keen on signing a replacement stopper for the goalkeeper.
Kepa was dropped at several points last season after a string of poor performances and the 28-year-old Mendy is seen as a safer pair of hands.
Chelsea have already made six signings so far this summer, spending over £200m to bring in the likes of Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell.
But a goalkeeper was seen as the next priority and Canal+ report that a deal for Mendy has now been agreed.
It’s claimed Chelsea will pay an upfront fee of around £20.2m and a further £5.55m in bonuses to sign the 28-year-old.
Mendy could be in place by the time Chelsea take on Liverpool this weekend but it remains to be seen whether Lampard will drop Kepa.
Lampard suggested a new goalkeeper would merely provide ‘competition’ for Kepa but he was clearly wary of demoralising the Spaniard, who is seeking to recapture his best form after a difficult two years at Stamford Bridge.
Asked about developments on the club’s hunt for a new goalkeeper, Lampard said: ‘Not at the moment, no. There’s obviously some weeks to go until the end of the window.
‘We’ve got a big squad now so we have to manage that and look at how we move forward in terms of getting the right level of competition within the squad so no news on that one at the moment.
‘I’m very happy with Kepa. I think with the shot I’m not sure if he could have done better but I saw a bit more confidence in how he was playing.
‘I’m happy with him. Kepa is here, he’s our keeper and I’m happy with him. If we are bringing in competition it’ll be competition, that’s the nature of Chelsea. That goes throughout the squad [but] we’ll see. ‘
