Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Noni Madueke, a source has confirmed to ESPN.
Madueke, 20, has received permission from PSV to travel to England to complete the transfer.
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Reports in the Netherlands suggest the total fee will approach €40 million, which would make it the second-biggest outbound transfer in PSV’s history. Earlier this month, Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo left PSV to join Liverpool for an initial £37m (€42m).
Sources told ESPN last week that Chelsea had made an initial bid of €30m for Madueke, despite being told by PSV that they had no interest in letting the player leave this month.
PSV coach Ruud van Nistelrooy did not want to lose Madueke following Gakpo’s exit, but admitted there was a possibility he could depart as negotiations continue.
“I know of the interest in Noni,” he said last week. “I’d rather not have that, but it’s not something I decide. The fact that there’s a lot of interest in him is of course due to his quality and his performances. But I do find it worrying. Because we’ve to see if we’re able to keep him, I hope so very much.
“We will certainly do everything we can [to keep him]. But you also know that things can change real quick if the interest heats up. As a club, you’ve got to be ready and have replacements lined up because if he leaves it would mean that we lose another player this winter.”
Madueke, an England Under-21 international, was formerly a youth team player at Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Graham Potter is said to have tracked him for some time.
Chelsea are aiming to strengthen their attacking options this month and have already signed Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth up to €100m, as well as adding Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.
