Fabrizio Romano: Chelsea to "bid more than £35m soon" for "fantastic" Arsenal and Man City target

Chelsea are looking to move forward with their transfer business ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup as they aim to bolster their attacking options.

The Blues have all-but completed a deal to sign Ipswich Town forward Liam Delap after seeing off competition from the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United and Everton. On Tuesday it was confirmed that the Stamford Bridge outfit would be going back on their obligation to buy Jadon Sancho from the Red Devils.

The two clubs had agreed a fee of around £20m last summer but Chelsea have been rejected the move, and paid a £5m financial penalty to get out of the deal. They are now looking at a replacement for Sancho and that could come in the for of Borussia Dortmund ace Jamie Gittens.

Chelsea to bid soon for Jamie Gittens

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on the Blues’ move for Gittens, claiming that a bid worth more than £35m will be on the way soon. Chelsea are keen to get the deal done before June 10, when the first part of the summer transfer window will close.

“Chelsea have started concrete conversations with Borussia Dortmund, waiting for an official bid to come quite soon. It's going to be in excess of £35 million, from what I'm hearing,” Romano said on the DAZN Football YouTube channel.

“He has the [Manchester] City Academy mark, a player who has started everything at Manchester City, and so Cole Palmer, Romelu Lavia, Enzo Maresca, Liam Delap, this is really typical at Chelsea.

“They love to sign a player who has been part of Manchester City's project at the beginning of his career, and also a coach like Enzo Maresca. And in the case of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, I expect the negotiation to go quite fast, because also the player is keen on the move. The conversation started.”

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich ‘all keen’ on Gittens

Chelsea are not alone in the race to sign Gittens, with Caught Offside reporting that Premier League trio Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are interested in the 20-year-old alongside Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

The Blues are looking to advance the transfer in the coming days with Liverpool and Arsenal’s priorities currently elsewhere. The Gunners are eager to get a new striker through the door in North London as quickly as possible with Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres the key targets. For Liverpool, they are working on a record-breaking deal for Bayer Leverkusen ace Florin Wirtz.

Chelsea kick off their Club World Cup campaign against Leon on June 16 before taking on Flamengo four days later. They conclude their group phase games against ES Tunis on June 25. Gittens could provide more spark in the forward department for Chelsea.

His former Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin said of him: "You need 1-on-1 players who have speed. He's maturing in his game. We talk a lot about risk and reward. When do I go into the 1-on-1, when do I prepare for it? When he gets rolling, he's a fantastic player. He's also made huge strides defensively.”