Chelsea are closing in on a £35million transfer deadline deal for midfielder Danny Drinkwater after taking their summer business right down to the wire.
With just hours of the transfer window remaining, Chelsea sre still working on three signings, including Drinkwater from Leicester City and right-back Davide Zappacosta from Torino.
The Premier League champions were keeping the identity of the third potential deal close to their chests, but they had a £25m bid rejected for Ross Barkley earlier in the week and had remained in negotiations with Everton.
Having already seen two bids, of £15m and £25m, rejected by Leicester, Chelsea made a new offer worth over £30m, inclusive of add-ons, on Thursday morning.
It is understood Chelsea needed to increase that third bid slightly to get their man, but confidence is growing through the evening that Drinkwater will be a Blues player by the time the transfer window shuts.
Key to the Drinkwater move was Leicester agreeing a deal to sign Sporting Lisbon’s Adrien Silva, who was reported to have left the Portugal camp, as a replacement.
