Chelsea and Manchester United are interested in signing PSV midfielder Ibrahima Sangare this summer.
Sangare is believed to have a € 35m (£ 29.9m) release clause in his contract and has also been linked in Dutch media with Liverpool and Newcastle.
A source close to the 24-year-old said the player has decided to move to England and is confident he will be a Premier League player next season.
Sangare joined PSV from Toulouse in September 2020 and has three years remaining for his contract with the Eredivisie club.
The Ivory Coast international was a regular at PSV last season, playing 49 times in all competitions when Roger Schmidt’s side won the Dutch Cup, finished second in the league behind Erik ten’s Ajax. Hag and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Sangare spent most of the season playing as a defensive midfielder in Schmidt’s 4-3-3 form, with the graphics below showing how he excelled in a number of key parameters.
Is Chelsea looking at the cover of Kante?
N’Golo Kante has struggled with injuries this season
Chelsea are once again able to operate in the transfer market after sanctions imposed on the club by the UK government were lifted when the consortium led by Todd Boehly completed the club’s takeover from Roman Abramovich last month.
Manager Thomas Tuchel said after winning against Watford on the final matchday of the Premier League season that his side would need a “rebuild” this summer, with a number of players likely to leave.
Doubts about the future of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, who have only one year left from the end of the contract.
Kante has only started 45 of the possible 76 Premier League games in the past two seasons, and Tuchel said last month that it was a “miracle” that his team had finished third after missing the French international for so long of the season.
Kante is the only natural midfielder to win the ball in the Chelsea squad and, given his stamina problems, it’s no surprise that the Blues want to strengthen in that area.
Ten Hag aims to improve the midfield
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Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes Erik ten Hag can benefit from club leadership change since his departure
Like Chelsea, Manchester United are also expected to be active in the transfer market this summer, with Erik ten Hag looking to improve the squad he inherited after joining Ajax.
Ralf Rangnick, the interim manager who has been replaced by Ten Hag, spoke on several occasions during his time at Old Trafford about the club’s need to review a team that has collapsed to sixth in the Premier League and failed. to win a trophy for the fifth successive season.
Midfield is an area clearly in need of improvement, with Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic leaving United on a free transfer this summer after their contracts expire.
Scott McTominay, Fred and Donny van de Beek – who spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Everton – are the only central midfielders currently available to Ten Hag.
Sangare will be a player the manager knows well, having spent the last two seasons together in the Eredivisie, while the midfielder got an assist when PSV beat Ten Hag’s Ajax in this season’s Dutch Cup final.
Follow the summer market window with Sky Sport
Who will be on the move this summer when the transfer window opens June 10 and closes at 23:00 on September 1st?
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumors in our dedicated Transfer Center blog at Sky Sports’ digital platforms. You can also catch up with the details and analytics Sky Sports News.