Man City agree fee with Chelsea for Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Manchester City have agreed an initial £25 million fee with Chelsea for midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

The Croatia international, who could cost £30m if add-ons are met, is set to become City’s first summer signing as Pep Guardiola looks to strengthen his treble-winning squad.

The former Real Madrid midfielder is set to join the exodus from Chelsea as they overhaul their squad for new manager Mauricio Pochettino after a season of signings.

N’Golo Kante has already completed a move to Saudi Arabia, while Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech could join him there. Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are expected to leave while Mason Mount has attracted an offer from Manchester United and Levi Colwill a bid from Brighton.

Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are other possible departures, though Conor Gallagher has said he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Kovacic has scored six goals in 221 games in five seasons for Chelsea after joining from Real, initially on loan, in 2018.

The 29-year-old will sign for City as they wait to find out if they are losing captain Ilkay Gundogan, who is out of contract and a target for Arsenal and Barcelona.

There is interest in fellow midfielder Bernardo Silva but Kalvin Phillips has said his intention is to remain at the Etihad Stadium, despite a difficult first season for City.