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Chelsea will not enter N’Golo Kante bidding war as Saudi clubs make big-money offers

N'Golo Kante during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on April 4 - Chelsea will not enter N’Golo Kante bidding war as Saudi clubs make big-money offers - Getty Images/Marc Atkins

Chelsea will not be drawn into a bidding war with Saudi Arabia over N’Golo Kante with their original contract offer remaining on the table.

Kante had been close to signing a new, heavily incentivised deal at Chelsea, but talks stalled when the midfielder suffered a new injury.

Chelsea have left the offer on the table, but do not plan to significantly improve it, despite clubs in Saudi Arabia making lucrative offers to Kante.

The Frenchman’s contract is due to expire at the end of the month and there is now a real possibility he could leave Stamford Bridge.

It is understood that Saudi representatives have travelled to London to present offers to Kante that could be worth as much as £86 million inclusive of bonuses and image rights.

That is far in excess of Chelsea’s offer and more than the £300,000-a-week contract Kante had initially been hoping for.

Chelsea had structured an offer to Kante that would have rewarded him heavily for playing time, following an injury-hit couple of seasons.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Chelsea will not enter N’Golo Kante bidding war as Saudi clubs make big-money offers - Reuters/Dylan Martinez

Having been close to signing that contract, Kante is yet to communicate his final decision to Chelsea, which has left the door open to Saudi Arabia.

It is believed that Al Ittihad, who have agreed a deal to sign Karim Benzema, and Al Nassr are the clubs who want to take Kante on a free transfer.

Losing Kante, who has won every club competition other than the League Cup at Chelsea, would be a blow to new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino had looked into signing Kante while he was in charge of Paris St-Germain and the 32-year-old had been attracted to the idea of working with the Argentine.

It had been hoped that the appointment of Pochettino could help clinch Kante’s signature on a new contract, but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough for him to turn down a huge offer from Saudi Arabia.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also has interest from Saudi Arabia, but the striker would prefer to remain in Europe and Chelsea may have to grant him a free transfer.

Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan have all shown interest in Aubameyang, but are unlikely to want to pay a fee.

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