According to Talk Sport, reporting via Eindhovens Dagblad, PSV are confident of maintaining the services of Hirving Lozano for the upcoming Eredivisie campaign.

The report claims that Chelsea, amongst others, were interested in signing the left-winger this summer, but now it appears that no agreement between the Blues and the Dutch outfit shall be reached.

Lozano would have been an exciting addition to the Premier League, and would arrive in great form off the back of an impressive World Cup campaign with Mexico.

With the deal now looking dead though, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri must take his search for left flank reinforcements elsewhere. 

Keita Balde, currently plying his trade in Ligue 1 with Monaco, would make an excellent alternative target to Lozano and would add a new dimension to the wide options currently in place at Stamford Bridge.

The Breakdown

Keita enjoyed a solid debut campaign with Monaco last season, scoring 8 goals and making 11 assists for the principality club in all competitions. The season before, with Lazio in Serie A, the Senegal international netted 16 league goals across the course of the term.

Keita is exactly the kind of left-winger that Chelsea seem to be after - in the Lozano mould. He has also proven his ability in both the French and Italian top flights, which has to be taken as a greater assurance of quality than Lozano’s experiences in Mexico and the Netherlands.

Keita, at only 23-years-old, scores and creates goals, and his pace and trickery are a nightmare for opposition defenders to try and cope with. 

Transfermarkt value the Monaco man at £27 million, the same valuation they have placed upon Lozano. So, for a similar price for what they’d pay for the Mexican, Chelsea could bring in the altogether more proven quantity in Keita instead this summer.