Chelsea are reportedly prepared to reignite their interest in Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
At the end of the season, the Blues confirmed that they had appointed Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach, the expectation being that he would be in favour of acquiring a new number one.
However, throughout June, it has been widely claimed that Pochettino is ready to keep Kepa Arrizabalaga as his first-choice pick, with the Spaniard known to be friends with new goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez.
Behind the scenes, there is said to be a feeling that Arrizabalaga is capable of improvement with the right coaching setup, building on a solid 2022-23 campaign.
Nevertheless, Chelsea will soon be forced into the transfer market to sign a fresh face for between the sticks with Edouard Mendy on the brink of an exit from Stamford Bridge.
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The Senegal international is in line to sign for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, and the preference will be securing an experienced replacement rather than relying on Marcus Bettinelli or American prospect Gabriel Slonina.
Interest in Inter Milan stopper Andre Onana remains to a certain degree, yet it appears that the Chelsea hierarchy may be prepared to go in a different direction.
According to A BOLA, the West Londoners are interested in signing Portugal international Costa ahead of the new season.
The report suggests, though, that the Premier League outfit would insist on paying a €75m (£64.1m) across three instalments in a bid to meet FFP criteria.
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Chelsea are under pressure to remain within the regulations come June 30 after committing to spending in excess of £600m across two transfer windows since the arrival of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
As it stands, it is unclear whether Porto would consider such an arrangement, the Primeira Liga outfit allegedly rejecting an instalment plan when Paris Saint-Germain signed Vitinha last summer.
That said, any proposal for Costa would be almost double that of the Portuguese midfielder, and would still meet Porto's demand in generating that level of transfer fee.
While Manchester United are known to be admirers of the 23-year-old, meeting Porto's asking price may prove to be difficult this summer due to their ongoing takeover process.
Erik ten Hag wants to sign at least one of Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo or Chelsea's Mason Mount to improve his midfield options, efforts which are currently taking priority.
Darren Plant
