Chelsea 'preparing to battle Paris Saint-Germain for Lyon's Bradley Barcola'

The 20-year-old was a shining light in a difficult 2022-23 campaign for Laurent Blanc's side, amassing seven goals and 10 assists from 31 senior matches in all tournaments.

Barcola continued his rich vein of form for France in the recent Under-21 European Championships, scoring twice and setting up two more goals to help Les Bleuets reach the quarter-finals.

The winger's displays domestically and internationally have inevitably led to links with a transfer away from Lyon, whom he has represented for 13 years since joining their youth system in 2010.

Despite already reinforcing their attacking ranks with the signings of Marco Asensio, Goncalo Ramos, Ousmane Dembele and Lee Kang-in, PSG are believed to be pushing hard to bring Barcola to the Parc des Princes this summer.

However, RMC Sport claims that Chelsea are also in the mix, and the Blues have accelerated their efforts to poach the France Under-21 international in recent days.

Lyon still have Barcola under contract for another three years, and Les Gones have apparently quoted their Premier League counterparts a fee of €50m (£42.8m) to sanction a sale.

PSG are believed to have failed with an offer of €30m (£25.7m), although Lyon's valuation is not final, and there will likely be room for negotiation between the interested parties in future talks.

Nevertheless, the report adds that Lyon are unlikely to accept anything below €35m (£29.9m) for Barcola, who is also yet to agree personal terms with any other club.

Amid the speculation surrounding his future, Barcola has started Lyon's opening two games of the 2023-24 Ligue 1 campaign against Strasbourg and Montpellier HSC, but Blanc's side lost both of them.

Manchester City were also said to be showing an interest in Barcola, but the treble winners are now prioritising their pursuit of Rennes winger Jeremy Doku, leaving Chelsea and PSG to engage in a fierce two-horse battle.

The Blues have hastily drawn up a list of alternative attacking options after being snubbed at the eleventh hour by Michael Olise, who has extended his Crystal Palace contract following reports that Chelsea had triggered his previous release clause.

Doku is also believed to be an option for Mauricio Pochettino, as is Nottingham Forest's Brennan Johnson, but the latter is valued at £50m by his current club.

Chelsea have freed up space in their attacking ranks by offloading Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, while Angelo Gabriel and David Datro Fofana have left on loan.

The Blues also discarded another unwanted winger on Saturday, as Morocco's Hakim Ziyech joined Galatasaray on a temporary deal with an option for a free transfer in 2024.