Edouard Mendy has knocked back Chelsea's opening offer of a new contract.
The Senegalese goalkeeper is one of the lowest-paid players in the Blues squad but rejected the first proposal because the terms were inferior to his understudy Kepa Arrizabalaga, who is on £190,000 a week.
According to the Evening Standard, the club are keen to tie the stopper down to fresh terms despite recent mistakes against Leeds and West Ham.
On Tuesday, homegrown defender Reece James committed to the club long-term, signing a bumper new six-year deal worth £250,000 a week and making him the highest-paid defender in Chelsea history.
The west London side are also said to be opening contract talks with fellow academy star, midfielder Mason Mount, too as new owner Todd Boehly looks to secure the club's top talent for the foreseeable future.
Mendy's current deal - signed when he joined from Rennes in September 2020 - runs until 2025, and manager Thomas Tuchel defended his No 1 despite errors costing his side recently.
He said: 'It's a very sensitive position in football and it's not everything that's just pure quality and only about decision-making. It's also about confidence and luck.
'So, this is what you need also from leaders and from goalkeepers, and that they have the kind of momentum that if they do a little mistake, it's not punished.
'Now, he gets punished a lot for not a lot of what he does wrong, but there are no doubts in my mind.
'The situation is calm. We have two fantastic goalkeepers, two fantastic guys. We are aware of it that [Mendy] is in that kind of situation, but first, we deal inside and then we tell you.'
Tuchel's side face Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia in their Champions League group-stage opener on Tuesday evening.
bihaklopsz
363
For those saying it's racism please stop that. I'm a black too and Mendy deserves whatever he gets on the table at the moment. Can someone remind me the last time Mendy has kept back to back clean sheet, what about cheap errors leading to goal? We need to be realistic. This is not the Mendy we used to know
KabuEric
317
I agree with Mendy, how can you pay a player who sits on the bench more than the one who has been in the post through thick and thin? For those saying he makes mistakes show me one keeper who doesn't make mistakes? Or better still show me a player in your team that doesn't make mistakes. When Chelsea won the CL nobody said he made mistakes. Please let's be fair to everyone. How much does De Gea take? Doesn't he make mistakes? When was the last time United won anything? Has anybody complained about his salary? Please....
Yekbckortu
118
with your current form I don't think you deserve to be paid more than kepa instead it you should be sold and Chelsea should find a better goalkeeper. Like Y. sommers he would be perfect.
jayaenrtz
10
For those saying it's racism please stop that. I'm a black too and Mendy deserves whatever he gets on the table at the moment. Can someone remind me the last time Mendy has kept back to back clean sheet, what about cheap errors leading to goal? We need to be realistic. This is not the Mendy we used to know
And when he was performing well why didn’t you call for an increase in his salary to justify his performance but would only just his errors
Drumsticks
8
with your current form I don't think you deserve to be paid more than kepa instead it you should be sold and Chelsea should find a better goalkeeper. Like Y. sommers he would be perfect.
I think u smoked weed before writing this