Top French source says player is “determined to join Chelsea” and has a plan to make it happen | OneFootball

French football newspaper L’Equipe are the best sourced and best respected source in the country as far as transfer news is concerned, and they’re making some big statements today about Mike Maignan, fresh off his excellent showing for the France national team.

The story so far as France star Maignan just €5m from Chelsea transfer

Mike Maignan in action for AC Milan. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

The AC Milan goalkeeper has one year left on his contract in Serie A, and at 29 years old knows he probably has one big pay day left in him. As of this time a week ago we heard from Fabrizio Romano of Chelsea’s serious interest in the veteran, and since then it’s been days of claim and counter claim.

The latest update on the bid, from yesterday morning, had the two clubs just €5m apart on their valuation of Maignan, although with the worrying twist that both were refusing to bridge that gap.

Maignan makes his own efforts to help deal along

According to L’Equipe, Maignan is making efforts on his end to help push things forward too. They say that “Magic Mike is determined to join Chelsea”, despite the best efforts of new manager Max Allegri to persuade him to stay.

His tactic is simple – make it very clear to the club that he won’t be signing a new deal. They can either sell him now, or watch him walk away for free next summer.

The pressure is on – if he’s not signed up by tomorrow at 7pm, Chelsea will miss the chance to register him for the Club World Cup, and may even walk away from the deal entirely.

“The two clubs are still negotiating… A conclusion should be reached in the coming days,” the piece finishes – let’s hope it’s more like hours.