Didier Drogba can help Chelsea seal £26m transfer and deny Kylian Mbappe meeting

Chelsea transfer news: The Blues could hijack Liverpool's move for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Kouadio Kone by using a club legend to secure the deal

Chelsea icon Didier Drogba could play a telling role in Todd Boehly's summer transfer plans to get one over on Liverpool.

The France Under-21s international has caught the eye of some Europe's big clubs with his performances in Germany. Kone joined Gladbach in 2021 from Toulouse and has been linked with Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

With two years remaining on his deal at Borussia-Park, Die Folhen could be forced to sell the midfielder in the summer. According to SportBILD (via Gladbach Live), the Bundesliga side have reduced their valuation from in excess of £39m to around £26m.

But despite strong interest from Liverpool - who are in desperate need of new midfielders - Chelsea could have the edge over their rivals. "Manu Kane is a player every league has an eye on," the journalist Christian Falk told CaughtOffside.

"Everybody knows there that there is a big chance for other clubs to get him, so that's why they've come up with this price-tag.

“£26.6m sounds like a crazy amount in England with the pound valuation and in Germany you say it’s €30m, which sounds normal for such a player.

“PSG also has an eye on him. We’ve asked him about his future and he told us that it would be interesting to play with Kylian Mbappé (but they can always play together in the national team). He’s been always dreaming of two clubs: one is Real Madrid and the other is Chelsea!

“He’s already talking openly about new clubs and you see he’s interested in England, and there are many clubs that would be on the table. With Chelsea, he’s put another one himself in.”