In what has been an extremely frustrating transfer window for Chelsea supporters, there is now a sense of real excitement with less than a month remaining. It's been a summer of missing out on targets for the Blues, with Barcelona hijacking deals for both Raphinha and Jules Kounde.
Now, though, Chelsea are looking to become like Barcelona and hijack a couple of deals from their Premier League rivals. The Blues, on Tuesday evening, submitted a bid in the region of £50million to Brighton for Marc Cucurella.
football.london understands the Blues have already agreed on personal terms with the Spaniard and have now matched Brighton's asking price. It remains to be seen how the Seagulls respond to the latest offer for Cucurella, but it's the price they asked Manchester City to pay earlier in the summer before talks broke down with the Premier League champions.
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Cucurella is someone who can provide cover, and competition, to Ben Chilwell in the left wing-back role, as well as play on the left-hand side of a back-three. Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of the 24-year-old, who joined Brighton 12 months ago from Getafe.
Chelsea mooted the idea of including Levi Colwill in a player-plus-cash deal for Cucurella, knowing that Brighton have shown previous interest in the 19-year-old defender. However, Brighton didn't take up that option and would prefer cash up front for Cucurella.
This doesn't mean that Colwill will not be leaving, though, with Brighton clearly interested in the Cobham graduate. Any move – loan or permanent – would be in a separate deal.
Meanwhile, Chelsea continue in talks with Leicester City to sign Wesley Fofana. The Blues have a genuine belief that the 21-year-old can become a world-class defender in the future. football.london understands and are determined to bring him to Stamford Bridge before next month's deadline.
Fofana is pushing for a move away from the King Power Stadium – both internally and externally – and is very open to the idea of joining Chelsea. Leicester's stance, though, despite Fofana's desire to leave, has not changed. The Foxes do not want to sell the Frenchman.
Talks between Chelsea and Leicester will continue this week. Personal terms with the Frenchman are not expected to be an issue, but the negotiations with Leicester are proving to be tricky at the moment.
The priority for Chelsea is bolstering their defence – that has been the case for a while now. The Blues are, however, now in talks with Barcelona over a deal to sign Frenkie de Jong.
Tuchel wants to add more creativity to his midfield and believes De Jong, who has been chased all summer-long by Manchester United, is the man to bring that, football.london reported earlier on Wednesday afternoon. The Netherlands international is keen to stay at Barca, but Chelsea are quietly confident they can reach a deal to sign the midfielder.
It's said that Todd Boehly is the driving force behind their pursuit of De Jong. The American businessman did, however, get the 'green light' from Tuchel to begin their mission.
In terms of outgoings, Kepa Arrizabalaga looks set to join Napoli on a season-long loan deal. Timo Werner wants to leave Chelsea, with both RB Leipzig and Juventus keeping a close eye on the German's situation.
Ross Barkley has been linked with a move back to Everton, but football.london understands the Toffees are not interested in the out-of-favour Chelsea midfielder. Michy Batshuayi continues to be linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, too.
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