Chelsea are in advanced talks to sign Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella and are willing to pay the £50m asking price for the Manchester City target.
The Spaniard handed in a transfer request on Friday in a bid to push through a move to City but the Premier League champions will not pay Brighton's asking price, with Chelsea now in pole position to sign the 24-year-old.
The Seagulls had previously rejected a £30m bid for the full-back from Pep Guardiola's side, who are looking for a replacement for Oleksandr Zinchenko after he joined Arsenal.
Cucurella enjoyed a hugely successful first Premier League season after joining from Getafe in a deal worth around £15m last summer and was named Brighton's player of the season.
Chelsea have now moved for Cucurella with doubts surrounding the future of left-back Marcos Alonso, with Barcelona reportedly wanting to sign the 31-year-old this summer. Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta is also wanted by the Spanish giants with the defender having one year left on his deal.
Thomas Tuchel's side have made two signings this summer with the arrivals of Raheem Sterling for £47.5m from City and defender Khalidou koulibaly from Napoli in a £33m deal.
