Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Aston Villa teenage midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka for a fee believed to be around £20m.
The Blues are also reportedly interested in signing Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters.
Chukwuemeka, 18, has been given permission to travel to London to discuss both personal terms and undergo a medical, with Chelsea set to beat off the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund to his signature at a reported cost of £20m.
He made 12 Premier League appearances for Villa last season and played a key part as England were crowned Under-19 European champions in July.
Classed as one of the league’s most exciting talents, Chukwuemeka was left out of Villa’s pre-season tour to Australia having refused to sign a new contract with the club.
Chelsea have already signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City for £50m and Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £34m.
However, it seems likely that their business is not yet complete, with Walker-Peters being targeted as part of a defensive rebuild, report the Guardian.
Walker-Peters would depth and provide competition for Reece James at right-back, but it may take an offer of £40m to lure him from St Mary’s.
The 25-year-old can operate on both flanks and can also play as a right-centre back and right wing-back.
CHELSEA SIGN SLONINA
Chelsea have also completed the signing of 18-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire for a fee of around £12.3m.
Slonina has signed a six-year contract and will return to Chicago on loan for the remainder of the 2022 season before joining up with Chelsea on January 1.
The teenager has played every minute of Chicago Fire’s 2022 league campaign to date and has registered 13 clean sheets.
Pre-season could have gone better for Thomas Tuchel, who called the commitment of his Chelsea players into question after a strong Blues side were thrashed 4-0 by Arsenal in a pre-season friendly in Orlando.
They start their Premier League season with a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton on Saturday in a 5.30pm kick-off UK time.
