Chelsea have offered €70m (£59m) plus Marcos Alonso for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, according to reports.
Barcelona remain keen on selling De Jong before the summer transfer window closes in order to improve their finances.
Barca desperately need to trim their wage bill after being told by La Liga that they are unable to register their new summer signings, including Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie.
De Jong, meanwhile, has stood firm and has made it clear that he wants to stay at Barcelona for another campaign.
Manchester United have been pushing to sign De Jong all summer but despite agreeing an €85m (£71.7m) deal with Barca, the Netherlands international does not appear keen on a move to Old Trafford.
It’s believed that De Jong would prefer a move to Chelsea as they are able to offer Champions League football and according to Sport, Tuchel’s side have now made a bid of €70m (£59m) plus Alonso for the midfielder.
The report claims that the Blues are ‘convinced’ that Barcelona will accept their proposal but they still need to reach an agreement with the player.
Should De Jong snub a move to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are said to be willing to sell Alonso in a separate deal worth under €10m (£8.4m).
Speaking last week, Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed that De Jong would need to accept a wage cut in order to stay at Camp Nou.
‘He wants to stay and we want him to stay. That is the most important,’ Laporta said. ‘What is clear is that we have a new salary scale and all the players have to fit into it. We are trying to make these players understand the reality of the club.
‘We find ourselves with a salary mass triggered by more than 40 per cent. We all have to make an effort.
‘We are going to do everything possible to make him stay and we hope that the player will also do everything possible to stay.’
