According to Jornal de Noticias (via SportWitness), Chelsea are the front-runners to sign Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa and they are prepared to make formal contact this month.
The London giants currently have Kepa Arrizabalaga as the only experienced goalkeeper in the squad. Gabriel Slonina is said to have huge potential, but manager Mauricio Pochettino may want a more high-profile option.
Costa has been one of the names linked with Chelsea for a while, and Jornal de Noticias claim that the club now have the funds to sign him after the sale of several big-name stars including Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic.
The Portuguese outlet further mention that Chelsea are ‘better placed’ than Manchester United to sign the 23-year-old, and should start contacts in early July. Porto currently value Costa at his £64 million release clause.
Jornal de Noticias believe it won’t be a problem for Chelsea, who spent more to land Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao.
Fantastic signing
Arrizabalaga stepped up as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper earlier this year after Edouard Mendy fell down the pecking order.
The Spaniard completed 81% of his passes in the English top-flight, as per Whoscored, but most of his distribution was risk free. The 28-year-old only managed 4 long balls per appearance.
This is where Costa would be an upgrade for Chelsea. His pass accuracy was less than Arrizabalaga at 77% for Porto, but he registered more than 7 long balls per game for the Primeira Liga side.
Arrizabalaga has also been guilty of conceding goals from shots outside his own box. He did so on 6 occasions from 29 league starts last season compared to Costa’s 2 from 33 starts for Porto.
Chelsea are unlikely to pay the release clause for Costa, but they could instead negotiate a longer payment plan. Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson have joined in a similar way this year.
In the case of both players, Chelsea were willing to pay slightly higher than the clause value. United may not enter the race with Chelsea with their focus now on signing Inter Milan’s Andre Onana.
