Chelsea have agreed a deal with Brighton worth a British record £115m for midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The Blues are understood to be paying an initial £100m, plus £15m in performance-related add-ons.
Caicedo has been granted permission by Brighton to have a Chelsea medical, which is expected to take place on Monday.
The midfielder will sign an eight-year contract, with the option of a further year.
Brighton will have a sell-on clause that has been described as “significant” as part of the £115m deal to sell Caicedo.
Half of the add-ons have been described as “quite easily achievable”, while the other half are considered “much harder” to achieve.
Liverpool agreed a £111m deal to sign Caicedo earlier this week but the move fell through when the 21-year-old informed the club he intended to join Chelsea.
Caicedo had been expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday after Jurgen Klopp’s side had a bid accepted by Brighton following a midnight deadline for bids on Thursday.
But the Ecuador international had a change of heart and told Liverpool – who drew 1-1 at Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season on Sunday – he did not want to join.
Caicedo instead remained in London and made it clear he only wanted to leave Brighton for Chelsea, who have been pursuing him all summer.
The £115m fee eclipses the £106.8m Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez when breaking the British-record transfer fee in January.
Chelsea want to sign two midfielders this summer, with the west Londoners also close to an agreement with Southampton over the signing of Romeo Lavia, who remains a Liverpool target, too.
