Tiemoue Bakayoko is set to sign for AC Milan on a permanent basis after his loan deal at the club comes to an end.
The Italian side are keen on meeting the €35m clause in his Chelsea contract according to Tuttosport.
This move for the 24-year-old comes as Milan look to offload midfield partner Franck Kessie this summer after his derby day antics.
The Ivorian was involved in a heated argument with teammate Lucas Biglia in the Milan derby defeat earlier this month.
Reports from Mirror Online suggest that Kessie was given a larger financial penalty than Biglia, and has been told he will need to regain Gennaro Gattuso's trust.
Season so far
Bakayoko failed to impress manager Gattuso at the start of this season.
The Milan boss was openly critical of his earlier performances, and said in a post-match press conference:
"Bakayoko has to learn how to get the ball. We must work correctly.
"One week is not enough to remove the defects of a player.
"I would have preferred to be managing older, more experienced club players."
His Milan career began with a series of substitute appearances but, just as he had with the Blues, the Frenchman seemed to struggle with many aspects of his game.
There were even reports that the Italian outfit were desperate to terminate his loan deal early.
However, things seem to have turned around for the central midfielder, whose surge in form has coincided with Milan pushing for a Champions League spot in Serie A.
The Chelsea man has now made 33 appearances across all competitions for Gattuso's side and, after playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win over Genoa on 31 October, has missed just two league games.
Blues career
Bakayoko found the Premier League challenging in his first and only full season in England.
A torrid debut season prompted the Blues to ship the 24-year-old out on loan to Milan last summer.
Despite appearing 43 times across all competitions in the 2017/18 season, his inconsistencies caused concern under Antonio Conte.
He was brought to Stamford Bridge as a box-to-box midfielder, however, he was far from impressive, scoring twice in midfield in the league with a 23% shot accuracy.
But, with a transfer ban looming over Chelsea, Roman Abramovich and Maurizio Sarri may have to do all they can to stop this move from occurring.