Chelsea are considering a bid for Monaco starlet Aurelien Tchouameni this month, 90min understands.
The 21-year-old has been hugely impressive for the Principality outfit since joining from Bordeaux in 2020.
Monaco paid just over £15m for the young midfielder and they are ready to listen to offers, but they want around double what they initially paid if they are to sanction a deal in this window.
A number of clubs from around Europe have been in contact with Monaco, but it is Chelsea who have held the most advanced talks, including how they intend to structure any deal.
Chelsea are also weighing up whether to complete a permanent deal now and then allow Tchouameni to stay the Stade Louis II until next summer. The Blues have been in contact with the player's camp to gauge their opinion on such an arrangement, and they were open to the idea of remaining at Monaco on loan for another season.
The European champions are keen not to miss out on Tchouameni and know if they do not lock him up in this window, they risk losing out on him to one of their competitive rivals. They did a similar deal when landing Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, completing a deal in January 2019 ahead of the summer window when their transfer ban became active.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel would be happy to sign Tchouameni, but has backed the stance of the hierarchy that it might be better for him to stay at Monaco until 2022 depending on the outgoings at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are currently working to free up space in Tuchel's squad. The likes of David Zappacosta, Malang Sarr, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, Ike Ugbo, Baba Rahman, Lewis Baker and Ethan Ampadu are all currently in talks over prospective loan moves away.
Source : 90min