Chelsea agree fee for £50m star man and are ‘confident’ of sealing deal for Leicester star

Chelsea are close to stealing a march on Manchester City by signing their long summer target Marc Cucurella after agreeing a fee with Brighton Hove and Albion.

City had been under the impression that they would seal the deal for the high-flying Spanish left-back, but hit a gridlock over the fee with Brighton holding out for £50million.

Pep Guardiola’s side insisted on £40m, and the standoff over the £10m difference has created an opportunity for Chelsea, who have moved in quickly and offered the Seagulls the fee.

They are currently working on personal terms with the player, which should see the left-back swap Brighton for London.

The Blues are also chasing a big move for Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana, and are increasingly confident that they could sign him with a fee in the region of £ 80m.

Chelsea lost the dynamic duo of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen this summer, with the former joining Madrid and the latter moving to Barcelona.

The signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli has eased the pressure and softened the blow of the loss of the key players, but they will now need cover and quality to deal with a potential injury or drop in form.

Tough pre-season

The Blues have endured a tough pre-season with manager Thomas Tuchel not particularly impressed with the defeat to Arsenal in the US.

They looked sharp though against Udinese where they ran off 3-1 winners ahead of their first Premier League game this weekend against Everton.

The change in ownership of the club has somehow dulled their pull this summer, even though all that could change by the time the window shuts.