Chelsea are set to sign French defender Mamadou Sarr from partner club Strasbourg.
The £11.9m deal for the 19-year-old central defender, who has played just 14 times for Strasbourg, is with a view for him to join in the summer.
It represents the first permanent transfer into Stamford Bridge from Strasbourg, clubs owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital under the BlueCo umbrella.
Ligue 1 Strasbourg will bank a quick £3.4m profit having only signed Sarr from Lyon for £8.5m in the summer.
The pre-agreed nature of the transfer avoids forcing Strasbourg to drop any of their three loanees, midfielder Andrey Santos, left-back Caleb Wiley or goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, because of limits set by Fifa’s rules.
Chelsea have also lined up a deal for Kazakh 16-year-old Dastan Satpaev, who completed a successful trial at Cobham Training Centre in recent weeks.
The striker is expected to join Chelsea’s academy teams from FC Kairat.
