Chelsea succeed in derailing agreed Brighton transfer, with bid submitted for perfect Maresca player

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could reroute to Stamford Bridge at the last minute

Chelsea have tabled an offer for Leicester City ace Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after a late attempt to hijack the move resulted in an agreed transfer to Brighton falling through, according to reports.

Enzo Maresca is an admirer of Dewsbury-Hall and would see him as the ideal signing to revolutionise the Chelsea engine room and serve as a trusted lieutenant in the squad.

However, Brighton had stolen a march on the Blues by agreeing a cash-plus-player deal with Leicester. The agreement would have seen Brighton sign Dewsbury-Hall in exchange for £26.5m plus Jakub Moder as a makeweight.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Moder had already undergone a medical at Leicester City while Dewsbury-Hall had one scheduled at Brighton.

However, Chelsea placed a call into Leicester at the eleventh hour and that has proven enough to see Brighton’s transfer collapse.

The cash-plus-player deal is now OFF, according to Fabrizio Romano. Instead, David Ornstein subsequently revealed Chelsea will have pushed ahead with a proposal of their own.

Ornstein did not divulge the exact terms of Chelsea’s bid, though Romano suggested it’ll be a cash-plus-player effort, as Brighton’s was.

Two players the Blues are considering including as makeweights are striker David Datro Fofana and midfielder Cesare Casadei.

The latter spent last season on loan at Leicester and could be viewed as a like-for-like replacement for Dewsbury-Hall.

All eyes will now be on the nature of Chelsea’s bid when the full details emerge. If a suitable package is tabled, a deal could quickly cross the line with Leicester desperate to conclude a deal before June 30 to help meet PSR requirements.

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It is TEAMtalk’s understanding that Dewsbury-Hall very much preferred reuniting with Maresca at Chelsea over joining Brighton.

Maresca appeared to unlock Dewsbury-Hall’s potential at Leicester last season and there is a great deal of mutual respect passing between the two men.

Ornstein concluded the expectation is Dewsbury-Hall will either sign for Chelsea or remain at Leicester. Those appear to be the only two outcomes the player will accept this window.

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