World Cup winner’s retirement could deal Chelsea huge blow

Chelsea make the long trip north to face Newcastle United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. 

The Blues ran out 2-1 winners over the Magpies when the two sides met in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, with Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer netting either side of Alexander Isak’s equaliser.

Head coach Enzo Maresca is likely to make a number of changes to his side for the trip to St. James’ Park, as he has done for all of Chelsea’s previous Carabao Cup and Europa Conference League games so far this term.

Palmer and Jackson could be drop to the bench for the game, while goalkeeper Robert Sanchez may also be rested.

The Spaniard has been criticised for some of his performances in the early stages of the season, and it appears that Chelsea are eyeing a move for one of Europe’s most highly-rated ‘keepers.

As per CaughtOffside, Chelsea are interested in Porto’s Diogo Dalot, but face stiff competition from German giants Bayern Munich for the player’s signature.

Costa is regarded by many as one of the best goalkeepers in the world

The report suggests that Bayern have identified Costa, 25, as a potential replacement for Manuel Neuer, who is considering retirement at the end of the current campaign.

Neuer has played more than 530 times for Bayern and has won no fewer than 11 Bundesliga titles, but the report suggests that the 38-year-old is considering retirement.

With that in mind, Bayern could look to sign Costa as a long-term replacement for the German, but Porto are reluctant to sell the player and could therefore demand a fee of around £58 million to do so.

Costa is a product of Porto’s youth academy and has now made 167 appearances for the club, keeping 71 clean sheets.

Manchester United are also long-term admirers of the Portugal international, the report claims.