‘Top player’ – Chelsea urged to hijack Man Utd and Arsenal move for £51m transfer target

Glen Johnson has urged Chelsea to press ahead with a deal to sign France midfielder Manu Kone amid interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.

New manager Xabi Alonso will be keen to bolster his options in central midfield, especially after the club decided to sell Andrey Santos to United for £48million.

Enzo Fernández’s future at Stamford Bridge also remains somewhat up in the air after the Argentine expressed a desire to leave the club before the World Cup.

Moises Caicedo is the only other senior midfielder at the club, while Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are hoping to play a greater role next season after injury-affected campaigns last time out.

Chelsea have a strong interest in Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, but saw an opening bid of £64million rejected by the Cherries.

However, former Blues defender Johnson believes the club should instead explore a move for Roma midfielder Kone after his impressive showing at the World Cup.

The 25-year-old made five appearances for France as they reached the semi-finals and earned high praise from former World Cup winner Patrick Vieira for his displays at the tournament.

Premier League champions Arsenal were heavily linked with Kone earlier in the summer, but United have since emerged as his most likely destination.

Recent reports in Italy suggested that Chelsea have held ‘initial talks’ with Roma about Kone, who is said to be valued at around £51m.

And Johnson believes the Frenchman would be a perfect partner to Caicedo and more than capable of adapting to the rigours of the English top-flight.

‘He has been excellent for France,’ Johnson told Metro via Spinbet. ‘A top midfielder, strong, physical, can use the ball well, pick a pass well, he is a top player, and to get into the French midfield you must be a good player.

‘If Enzo leaves, he can be the perfect replacement for sure. His attributes seem to be suited to the Premier League, so I don’t think he will have any issues getting used to the game at all.’

Kone was asked about the intense speculation over his future ahead of the World Cup, but said he was keen to remain ‘exclusively focused’ on his commitments with Les Bleus.

‘Honestly, right now I’m only thinking about the World Cup,’ Kone said. ‘It’s my first major international competition, a tournament I’ve always dreamed of playing in.

‘I want to remain exclusively focused on this. We’ll talk about the future after the World Cup and see what happens.’

Chelsea have already been active so far this summer window, following up the signing of Atalanta right-back Marco Palestra with a record-breaking £117m deal for Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers.

The Blues are also keen to explore a deal for John Stones, who is a free agent after leaving Manchester City last season.

Chelsea will look to raise funds through player sales, with attacking duo Alejandro Garnacho and Nicolas Jackson both attracting interest from Aston Villa.

And Johnson believes there could be further departures in forward areas, adding: ‘Alonso will have a good look at the squad of players who haven’t been in World Cup action, so these players have a head start to impress the new head coach.

‘He will look at how these players can fit into his style of play and then determine who may not fit in the squad and be surplus to requirements.

‘It will be interesting to see if Alonso looks to keep Delap or looks to give him game time on loan as a young striker needs game time and confidence as this position is important, so he would be one who Alonso could decide to move on or loan out.’

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