Chelsea have made an offer to sign Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund, with the player keen on the move.
The club are hoping to sign him before Tuesday’s deadline as they want him to play in the Club World Cup.
Dortmund are also taking part in the competition.
The west London club are looking to strengthen in the winger position following the decision not to take up the option to sign Jadon Sancho permanently.
The 20-year-old winger was a target in January and has remained high on a list of eight or nine attacking names Chelsea are working on this summer.
Gittens is valued at £50m but lost his place in Dorrmund’s starting XI towards the end of the season.
Chelsea may also sign another striker after already completing deal for Liam Delap with Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko on their shortlist.
But goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga looks set to leave Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal are progressing with a deal to sign him and are expected to trigger the £5m release clause in his contract.
‘Gittens path to the top is a different one’
Jamie Gittens is wanted by Chelsea
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate:
When it comes to honing young English talent, Dortmund know how to do that better than most clubs in the Premier League. But Gittens’ story is different to those of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham who came before him before moving on for big money.
Bellingham arrived having had a season in the Championship with Birmingham City. Sancho ranked alongside Phil Foden as one of the jewels in the Manchester City academy. Gittens, signed at the age of just 16, did not come with quite the same guarantees.
A prospect at Reading, he had spent only two years at City, but was not close to the first team when Dortmund made their move.
“We do not want to find 30 players like other teams in England do it. We want to find the one player who can reach our first team,” said Dortmund CEO Lars Ricken.
“When we signed him, he was not on Sancho’s level but we said, we can develop him to the level of a great player. It was a good cooperation between our scouting department, professional department and youth department.”
