Chelsea are reportedly closing in on a staggering £180million deal to sign Kai Havertz that would see him become the most-expensive German footballer ever.
The Blues have been trying to complete a deal for the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder throughout the summer and transfer chief Marina Granovskaia is working hard to get it over the line.
German outlet BILD report on Wednesday that it will cost Chelsea a whopping €200million (£180m) in total to complete a deal for the highly-rated 21-year-old.
That includes his contract, believed to be worth a total of €100m (£90m) over the course of five years, as well as the €100m (£90m) transfer fee that Leverkusen are holding out for.
But Granovskaia is hoping to get a deal done for a total fee of €80m (£71.5m) with €20m (£18m) in add-ons included.
However, Leverkusen are willing to hold out for a premium because Havertz is contracted until 2022 and has no buy-out clause.
But there is a risk the Germans could lose one of very few buyers for their prized asset with BILD claiming Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have all pulled out of talks after their budgets were slashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
They also report Havertz has told his current club ‘not to drag out the negotiations’ because he wants to get down to work with the Premier League side as soon as possible.
It emerged on Tuesday that Leverkusen have given Chelsea a deadline of August 28 to complete their move for Havertz.
According to Jan Aage Fjortoft on Twitter, Leverkusen have given the Blues a stiff cut-off point to get a deal done, like Borussia Dortmund gave Manchester United with Jadon Sancho.
The Germans are due to begin their pre-season training on August 28, and want to make sure any deal is done before then so they can finalise plans for the upcoming season.
Havertz is deemed to be one of the top young players in Europe having scored 38 goals in his last 87 matches in all competitions for the German side.
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