Chelsea are prepared to meet with Shakhtar Donetsk director Darijo Srna, raising the possibility that they could hijack Arsenal’s bid to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Mudryk, 21, is Mikel Arteta’s primary target during the January transfer window and the Gunners have raised their offer to £62million after an initial £55m offer was rejected.
Shakhtar have neither accepted nor rejected the second offer yet but have invited Chelsea into a meeting later this week.
It is unclear at this stage whether Chelsea will make an offer for Mudryk but they have been monitoring the situation around the Ukraine international.
They are also be keen to maintain a relationship with Shakhtar in preparation for signing their next top talents.
Arsenal remain strong favourites for the signature of Mudryk, who they identified after his 10 goals and eight assists in 18 games this season.
They have been negotiating the move for some time after having an opening bid of £55m snubbed. Arsenal are negotiating with a club determined to squeeze every penny out of the transfer, getting as much of the money up front as possible.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have other priorities as they prepare to announce moves for Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile and Vasco da Gama midfielder Andrey Santos.
They are also locked in talks over a payment structure to secure Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a Premier League record £112m.
Chelsea would likely have to abandon one of their transfers to get Mudryk, having already signed David Datro Fofana for £8.6m from Molde.
