Chelsea face a battle from at least seven other clubs in the race to sign £70million-rated Ben Chilwell from Leicester this summer.
Blues boss Frank Lampard, who has already completed the £53m capture of Germany international Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, would love to add the England left-back to his side as well.
But Chilwell has at least four options in the Premier League — two of them deemed to be realistic.
And there are further opportunities for him on the continent with interest from big clubs in Italy and Spain.
Leicester are under no pressure to sell the 23-year-old, having banked around £80m from Harry Maguire’s move to Manchester United last summer.
The sales of Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City in 2018 and N’Golo Kante to Chelsea two years earlier were also worth more than £90m to the Foxes, who have proved tough negotiators in recent years.
Chilwell, however, is understood to be open to a move and Leicester will brace themselves for a battle to hang on to him when the 2019-20 campaign finally reaches its conclusion.
Werner’s move will not be formally announced until July at the earliest, although Chelsea and Leipzig could confirm a deal has been struck before then.
He cannot sign officially until July 1 but Chelsea will respect Leipzig’s commitment to finishing the Bundesliga season and their Champions League fixtures as well, so any announcement could come after that.
The Blues reached an agreement with Leipzig after director Marina Granovskaia confirmed they would match the release clause in his contract at the Red Bull Arena.
The 24-year-old’s deal at Stamford Bridge is worth around £200,000 a week and is seen as a huge sign of Chelsea’s intent as other clubs reel over the financial hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was heavily in for Werner as well but the club stalled on their move due to the figures involved.
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