Atletico Madrid are confident of signing Sporting CP captain Morten Hjulmand despite Chelsea making a huge offer to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
The Denmark international has been on the radar of a number of top clubs around Europe with Ruben Amorim keen to sign him for Manchester United during his time in charge at Old Trafford.
Manchester City and Arsenal have been monitoring his situation this summer with Mikel Arteta eager to sign another midfielder off the back of last season’s Premier League title success with focus now on Bruno Guimaraes.
City’s director of football Hugo Viana, formerly of Sporting, is also said to be an big admirer.
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Atletico have moved in for the 27-year-old however with Cadena Ser reporting they have agreed a fee of €40million (£34m) for his services.
Talks between all parties have accelerated in recent hours with optimism the deal will be completed soon.
That development comes despite Chelsea making a late move for the midfielder. The report adds the Premier League giants have in recent hours approached Hjulmand, making him a ‘higher financial offer’ than Atletico to lure him to west London.
Hjulmand however is still set on joining Atletico despite Chelsea putting more money on the table.
Atletico also do not anticipate any problems getting the deal done.
Chelsea have already been spurned in their attempts to sign another midfielder in Granit Xhaka, a player Xabi Alonso previously coached at Bayer Leverkusen.
The Blues targeted the former Arsenal captain to bring some experience to their young squad with an £8m offer instantly rejected by Sunderland.
Their interest ended after the Black Cats made it clear the Switzerland international is not for sale with Xhaka since confirming his intention to stay.
Chelsea are on the brink of selling one of their current midfield stars having accepted a £50million offer from Manchester United for Andrey Santos.
United have moved quickly to wrap up a deal for the Brazil international who is expected to start undergoing his medical ahead of the move today.
The 22-year-old impressed on loan at Strasbourg before returning to Stamford Bridge for his first full season at the club last term. With Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia also in the frame, he made 25 starting appearances across all competitions last season with just 13 of them coming in the Premier League.