Chelsea are set to make Raheem Sterling their headline signing this summer and are ready to pay £60m to land the England international.
The 27-year-old will be a free agent this time next year and discussions over a new contract at Manchester City have stalled.
Pep Guardiola would prefer to keep the player who has been central to the club’s dominance of the Premier League in recent years, but City are unwilling to lose one of their prize assets on a free transfer next summer.
Sterling has previously stated his desire to play abroad and although Real Madrid and Barcelona have been interested in the past, and neither is in a position to meet City’s valuation.
Chelsea’s new owners, however, are ready to back Thomas Tuchel with a £200m warchest and make major additions to a team which failed to keep pace with City and Liverpool last campaign.
Sterling would be considered a statement signing and the player, according The Sun, is keen on a return to London but will seek assurances from Thomas Tuchel over the role his likely to play in his plans.
The former Liverpool star started 32 Premier League matches for City last campaign, but his influenced waned during the closing stages of the campaign.
Sterling was left on the bench for both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and omitted from the line-up for the decisive game of the campaign against Aston Villa, before he made a huge contribution as a second-half replacement.
Tuchel already has an abundance of attacking options in his team, but with doubts over the futures of Lukaku, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Pulisic, he is likely to be able to offer Sterling the guarantee of first team he so craves.
