Chelsea are set to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after agreeing a player-plus cash deal with Barcelona in which Marcos Alonso will head in the other direction, sources have told ESPN.
Chelsea will pay £12 million and allow Alonso to move to Camp Nou after Aubameyang accepted terms on a two-year contract with an option for a third, dependent upon how many games he plays in his second year at Stamford Bridge.
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Sources have told ESPN that the 33-year-old will fly to London on Thursday afternoon to undergo a medical with all parties confident a deal will be completed before the 11 p.m. BST deadline in the United Kingdom.
Alonso has been keen on joining Barcelona for months but talks stalled amid Barcelona's financial issues with Chelsea holding out for a fee in the region of £8m.
Barcelona wanted around £20m for Aubameyang and so a compromise has finally been reached to allow both players to make their desired moves.
Aubameyang suffered a broken jaw during a robbery at his family home in Barcelona and although he may be sidelined for around three weeks, the injury will not prevent a medical taking place or prove prohibitive to a transfer.
Sources have told ESPN that head coach Thomas Tuchel is driving Chelsea's pursuit of Aubameyang after the pair enjoyed great success together at Borussia Dortmund. Aubameyang scored 79 goals in 95 games across two seasons between 2015 and 2017.
Although Chelsea have already signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City this summer, they have struggled for potency in attack this season, slipping to their second defeat in five matches with a 2-1 loss at Southampton on Tuesday.
Tuchel is keen to bring in a number nine after allowing Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to rejoin Inter Milan, on loan, and RB Leipzig respectively and having accepted Barcelona's willingness to do business,
Aubameyang is open to a return to London despite only moving to Barca in January. Aubameyang fell out of favour under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal over what the club believed were repeated disciplinary breaches and the Gunners subsequently agreed a contract termination to allow him to join Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have agreed to sign Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria on a season-long loan, sources have told ESPN, while midfielder Billy Gilmour will join Brighton in a £9m deal.
Zakaria was set to undergo a medical in Turin ahead a signing a deal which is understood to include an option for Chelsea to sign the player on a permanent basis next summer.
Tuchel has been desperate for reinforcements throughout the team and the club failed with a £43m offer for Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez.
With Ajax reluctant to consider a deal having already parted with several stars this summer including Lisandro Martinez and Antony, who both joined United, Chelsea switched their attentions to other targets and moved quickly to land Zakaria, who has been a peripheral player for Juventus, starting just seven Serie A games since joining from Borussia Monchengladbach in January.
Elsewhere, hopes were fading that the club would sign a winger on Thursday having previously had multiple offers for Everton winger Anthony Gordon rebuffed, while interest in AC Milan Rafael Leao failed to progress beyond initial talks.