are quickly stepping up talks to sign Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella and have proposed a player-plus-cash swap deal involving one of their highly-rated youngsters, according to reports.
The Spanish defender is seriously in-demand this summer, with Premier League champions trying to lure him to the Etihad as a replacement for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
But Brighton are demanding a fee of around £50million for a player that cost less than half that just 12 months ago, causing talks to stall.
That has reportedly , who are keen to take advantage of the impasse and have opened talks with Brighton themselves – and they can offer something City cannot.
According to the , the west Londoners have proposed the possibility of including teenage defender Levi Colwill as part of the deal.
The centre-back is very highly rated – particularly by Brighton – after an excellent campaign on loan at Huddersfield last season, narrowly missing out on promotion after losing the Championship Play-Off final.
But, despite Thomas Tuchel having lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, Colwill has not done enough in pre-season to prove he deserves a place in the first-team squad and Chelsea want to bring in another established centre-back in addition to the earlier purchase of Kalidou Koulibaly.
They failed in attempts to sign Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde – who joined Bayern Munich and Barcelona respectively instead – and are now looking at Leicester’s Wesley Fofana and RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol.
Tuchel also wants a left-sided player to compete with Ben Chilwell, while Cucurella also has the added attraction of having played at left centre-back in a back three at the backend of last season for Brighton.
Chelsea value Colwill at around £20m, meaning a cash offer of £30m in addition to the centre-back would match Brighton’s valuation.
The Seagulls had actually already spoken to Chelsea earlier this summer about the possibility of signing Colwill, and the swap deal could now suit all parties – particularly with Cucurella having handed in a transfer request.
Although the Spaniard was keen to link up with countryman Pep Guardiola at City, he would also welcome a move to Chelsea and there is growing confidence at Stamford Bridge that a deal can be done.
In addition to signing Cucurella, Tuchel is also looking to bring in a new right wing-back to compete with Reece James and talks have been held with Inter over Denzel Dumfries.
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