are interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion defender Marc Cucurella, who has been the subject of interest from throughout the summer.
’s side have sold Oleksandr Zinchenko to for £35m since the end of last season, leaving them without a recognised left-back in their first-team squad.
While Joao Cancelo has regularly filled the role in recent seasons, and did so again in the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday, City are unlikely to end the transfer window short in the position and have made Cucurella their primary target.
With Brighton asking for a fee of around £50m for a player who impressed in his rookie campaign in the Premier League last season, City have only been willing to offer £35m so far and a deal seems to be a long way off.
Now, the reports that Chelsea are looking to take advantage of the impasse by making a move of their own for the former Getafe player.
The Blues are revamping their defence having already lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively since the end of last season, while both Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso are also strongly linked with moves to Barcelona of their own.
Thomas Tuchel has already brought in Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli in order to reinforce the centre of his backline, but will need more arrivals to cope with the departure of those who have already moved on and the Spanish pair who may follow through the exit door.
Chelsea have already missed out on both Jules Kounde, who moved to Barcelona last week, and Matthijs de Ligt who switched from Juventus to Bayern Munich. Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries has also been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge since it was confirmed that Kounde had opted for Nou Camp.
Cucurella is a product of the Barcelona youth academy, and made his international debut for Spain in a 4-0 victory over Lithuania last year.
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