Chelsea are reportedly looking to open in-house talks with Mateo Kovacic over signing a potential new contract at Stamford Bridge.
As things stand, the 28-year-old is set to enter the final year of his current deal with Chelsea in the summer.
Despite current pressure on Blues manager Graham Potter, it appears that the club have now shifted their focus on tying down Kovacic to a new contract.
According to a recent report from Football Insider, Chelsea are ready to open new contract talks with Kovacic, who is firmly part of of the club’s plans for the future.
The report also adds that seeing the Croatian sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge is a ‘priority’ for the club.
Chelsea signed the player back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Real Madrid in a deal worth a reported fee of €45m (39m).
Since then, the midfielder has gone on to make 207 appearances for the west London club across all competitions, scoring five goals and delivering 14 assists along the way.
This season has seen the £100k-per-week Croatia international make 16 league appearances for Potter’s side, supplying one assist in the process.
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In terms of what he offers the team, the former Real star has the second-highest total of progressive passes (86) at Chelsea.
In addition to that, only Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly have carried the ball progressively further than the midfield figure.
Having previously been hailed by journalist Henry Winter for his “outstanding” performances for the Blues, it’s easy to see why the club are keen to see him sign a new deal and pledge his future to Chelsea.
Moving forward, if the Stamford Bridge outfit were able to land new contracts for Kante and Kovacic as soon as possible, this would be a massive positive for them and allow them to focus on other players in the squad they may want to tie down ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.