Chelsea are lining up a £22 million deal for Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini.

The Mirror says Sampdoria are ready to do a deal if they receive a £22m bid and agents acting on Chelsea's orders are due to arrive for talks on Wednesday.

But while the Italians are prepared to sell, sporting director Beppe Marotta wants to agree an immediate lease back to keep the player at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris until the end of the season.

Such an agreement would allow Chelsea to get around the looming transfer ban expected to be upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the signing of Gael Kakuta, and also see Carlo Ancelotti keep his promise in terms of new players for the rest of this campaign.