Chelsea are ready to pay a British transfer record to land Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez today.
The Times says Chelsea have made a new bid worth up to £115m for Fernandez and are increasingly confident they can land the World Cup winning midfielder in a deal that would make him the most expensive signing in British football history.
Chelsea have refused to give up on signing Fernandez after being frustrated earlier in the window and resumed their push to sign the 22-year-old before Tuesday's 11pm deadline.
There is a feeling on both sides that the deal will now get done after further talks on Monday.
Chelsea's offer would be paid instalments and is £10m above the valuation of the buyout clause in Fernandez's Benfica contract.
However the structure of Chelsea's proposal represented a sticking point. They have offered to spread the fee over six payments though Benfica want the money in one go, something that would be problematic for Chelsea after spending over £450m under the ownership of the Todd Bohely-led consortium, or Chelsea to pay more than the value of Fernandez's clause to compensate.
Benfica president Rui Costa cancelled plans to attend a celebration dinner on Monday amid intensifying discussions with Chelsea.