Chelsea will inform Southampton this week as to whether or not they are willing to sell striker Armando Broja in January.
The Albania international has shone on loan with the Saints this season, scoring five goals on his way to becoming Ralph Hasenhuttl's preferred striker above Che Adams and Adam Armstrong.
Southampton agreed a loan deal with Chelsea in the summer that did not include an option to buy at the end of the season, but talks have now been held over the potential of a permanent transfer.
A number of clubs in the Premier League and across Europe have been asked to be kept informed of the situation, meaning Southampton are keen to explore the possibility of striking a deal this month in order to ward off any interest in the summer should Broja continue his fine form.
The Saints are waiting to hear whether Chelsea, who spent a club record £97.5million on Romelu Lukaku in the summer and also have Timo Werner and Kai Havertz as options up front, would be open to a sale and will learn their decision in the coming days.
It is unclear what value Chelsea place on the striker but it is thought Southampton would have to pay at least £20m and accept a buy-back clause like they did when signing Tino Livramento last year.
Chelsea have a £40m option to re-sign Livramento from Southampton, and that fee was agreed before the full-back had ever made an appearance in senior football.
Broja still holds a dream to play regularly for Chelsea having come through their academy but the striker, who has 10 caps for Albania, would rather be a starter now and is open to extending his stay at Southampton - a deal manager Hasenhuttl is pushing the club's new owners, Sport Republic, to secure.
“We will find the right conversation with the player, the agents, the club. What they want, what Chelsea want,” Hasenhuttl said recently.
“I think we should let the young lad develop his game because this is the most important thing for him, to play games. He loves it here.
“It would be great if he was our player, he wants to be with us I think, you can feel this in every moment. The fans love him meanwhile, good.”
