Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic on a permanent deal worth up to €50m (£44.5m), claims Gianluca Di Marzio.
Kovacic spent last season on loan at Stamford Bridge in search of regular playing time but it was unclear whether Chelsea would move to get him back on a full-time basis.
Maurizio Sarri’s departure only put Kovacic’s Chelsea future into further doubt but the managerless Premier League outfit have now struck an agreement with Madrid.
Chelsea are still allowed to sign Kovacic, despite the threat of a FIFA-imposed transfer ban, due to the fact the Croatia international was a registered player last season.
The Premier League outfit had until the end of this month to agree a fee with Madrid and Kovacic will now become the club’s sixth most expensive incoming of all-time.
Kovacic was a relative disappointment during his first year at Chelsea, though did turn in his best performance for the club in their Europa League final win over Arsenal.
The 25-year-old struggled to nail down a regular starting berth in the Premier League last term, making just 21 starts and a further 11 appearances as a substitute.
In fact, of players that started at least 10 league matches for Chelsea last season, Kovacic had the worst WhoScored rating at the club (6.65).
