European giants join Chelsea in race for Milan Derby hero

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 26 Nov 2025 13:49 GMT
4 min read

Juventus and Inter have both joined Chelsea in the race to sign Mike Maignan on a free transfer.

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The world class AC Milan goalkeeper sees his contract expire at the end of the season and Chelsea are red-hot favourites to pick him up on a Bosman Transfer.

Current ETV

Mike Maignan

Milan

Mike Maignan

Milan

ETV Range

€14.3M - €17.4M

But after AC Milan, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport, offered Maignan a new contract worth €5 million per year, Chelsea now face more competition.

The Corriere della Sera and other media report that Juventus and Inter have now both joined the race.

The Bianconeri are looking for a new goalkeeper as they are not happy with Michele Di Gregorio, while Inter will replace the ageing Yann Sommer, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Chelsea favourites to sign Maignan

Chelsea remain favourites for Maignan, who on Sunday produced a stunning display to win Milan the derby against Inter.

He saved a penalty from Hakan Calhanoglu and made two other big stops from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez to give Milan a 1-0 win.

Chelsea are confident of finally signing Maignan after going close to getting him this past summer.

Chelsea tried to sign Maignan before the Club World Cup but could not agree a transfer fee with Milan.

They agreed terms with Maignan so this contract can easily be transferred over to 2026.

Chelsea were in deep negotiations for Maignan before the Club World Cup.

The Blues had two offers for Maignan rejected by Milan, the first worth €10 million and the second increased to €15m.

Chelsea's valuation fell far below what Milan considered acceptable, with the Rossoneri demanding at least €23m or more for the France number one.

The Blues refused to increase their offer, believing that €15m was fair for a player whose contract expires in a year.

And that is where the negotiations between Milan and Chelsea for Maignan ended for 2025.

Maignan agreed to stay at Milan for this season but it seems unlikely he will prolong his stay and he would agree to a move to Chelsea in 2026.

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