Manchester City close to agreeing €40 million deal with Chelsea - Reports

Manchester City are reportedly closing in on the signing of Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

ESPN reports that the treble winners are set to sign Kovacic in a deal worth around €40 million. The Croatian has a year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge and the Blues are ready to cash in.

Talks between the two Premier League giants have reportedly progressed well and they have reached a broad agreement on a fee. They will now negotiate how the deal for the 29-year-old is structured.

Chelsea need to raise funds in order to comply with Financial Fair Play. This is likely to lead to several first-team players' exits this summer and Kovacic looks to be the first.

Kovacic was a prominent member of the Blues' side last season, featuring 37 times across competitions. He scored two goals and provided as many assists to add to his overall tally of six goals and 15 assists in 221 appearances.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is looking to build on a remarkable 2022-23 campaign. The Cityzens won the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.

However, Guardiola may also consider Kovacic as Ilkay Gundogan's replacement. The German midfielder's contract at the Etihad expires at the end of this month. Barcelona are reportedly interested and he is open to a move to the La Liga giants.

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino already looks to have found a replacement for Kovacic. Reports claim that Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo is edging close to becoming the Argentine's first signing.

However, the Croatian will be a loss given his four successful seasons at Stamford Bridge. He won the Champions League, Europa League and FIFA Club World Cup with the west Londoners.

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola lauded Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino despite lack of trophies

The managerial duo will lock horns at Manchester City and Chelsea this season.

Chelsea appointed Pochettino in May after a woeful campaign for the west London giants. They went through four permanent and temporary managers (Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, Frank Lampard).

The Blues ended the campaign lowly in 12th place in the league and trophyless. They will not be playing Champions League football next season and Pochettino has a massive job on his hands.

However, his counterpart Guardiola gave him a glowing verdict when discussing his managerial credentials in 2021. The Manchester City boss spoke before his side clashed with PSG in the last 16 of the Champions League. He insisted that trophy success wasn't the sole indicator of a good manager, saying (via The Guardian):

“You can be a top manager without titles, of course. The managers who have the chance to win titles are at top, top clubs with good investments and exceptional players."

Guardiola's comments came before Pochettino won the Ligue 1 with PSG in 2022. He added that he felt the former Tottenham Hotspur boss was improving:

“I’m pretty sure the managers get better every year. Every season we go through you have a lot of learning; I’m pretty sure he’s an excellent manager.”

Pochettino failed to win silverware during his serious spell in the Premier League with Tottenham. However, he did take Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final where they were defeated 2-0 by Liverpool.