Chelsea have been told to pay £20million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during another round of talks with Barcelona over the former Arsenal captain.
Blues co-owner Todd Boehly and Barcelona sporting director Mateu Alemany met late on Thursday night after an initial offer of £15m plus Marcos Alonso was rejected earlier this week.
Aubameyang remains a key target for Chelsea and they are also aiming to secure deals for Wesley Fofana and Anthony Gordon before the transfer window closes next Thursday.
The 33-year-old has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea and is ready to reunite with his former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel, who wants to sign a goalscorer.
Barcelona want the full fee for Aubameyang to be paid up front to help their Financial Fair Play issues and so they can finally register new signing Jules Kounde.
Chelsea remain intent on signing Leicester centre-back Wesley Fofana and are expected to register a fourth offer after seeing three bids up to £70m turned down.
Fofana has been dropped by Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers after he failed to turn up to training and asked to be allowed to leave for Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel has made Fofana his No1 defensive target. Harry Maguire has been identified as an alternative option but Chelsea are set to press ahead with their pursuit of Fofana
The Blues are also continuing talks over a move for Everton winger Gordon.
Everton could be inclined to accept an offer of around £60m for the England Under-21 international but have asked for loan deals for either Conor Gallagher or Armando Broja to be included in any deal.
Everton have also lined up replacements for Gordon and are rivalling Nottingham Forest for Bournemouth’s Jaidon Anthony, whose future is uncertain amid contract negotiations.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has agreed a loan move to Bayer Leverkusen but is waiting for Chelsea to sanction a move to the Bundesliga club.
Similarly, Trevoh Chalobah has loan interest from Tottenham, RB Leipzig, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Roma but must wait for Chelsea to sign a defender before he can leave.
Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic could also depart Stamford Bridge after growing unhappy under Tuchel.
