Chelsea reportedly seem confident they can complete a permanent transfer for Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic this summer.
According to Marca, the Croatia international is a target for the Blues after a season on loan at Stamford Bridge, with Real asking for around €55million for the player.
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Chelsea are currently under a transfer embargo, though the rules of such bans usually only mean new players cannot be registered during the period of the ban.
CFC could, in theory, sign players who’d join at a later date, and, in the case of Kovacic, Marca claim the deal shouldn’t be an issue as he’s already registered with the club from his time there on loan.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of all this will be, with Marca also noting that Inter Milan are another team interested in the 25-year-old.
In truth, most Chelsea fans probably won’t be too bothered about keeping Kovacic permanently as he didn’t really do enough to impress in his first season in west London.
€55m looks a bit pricey for the player, who would only block the path to the first-team of one of the club’s many exciting academy players.