Chelsea have reportedly reached an agreement with Chicago Fire for the transfer of goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.
The 2004-born shot-stopper has been on the radar of Blues officials for the past couple of months after cementing his place as the MLS side's number one goalkeeper.
Real Madrid and Wolverhampton Wanderers have also been credited with an interest in Slonina, who made 11 appearances for the Fire in the 2021 MLS season.
This time around, Slonina has already kept 10 clean sheets in 23 MLS matches for his club in 2022, although the Fire remain outside the playoff places.
The 18-year-old is out of contract with Chicago Fire in 2023, and according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have won the race for his services.
© Reuters
Romano claims that Thomas Tuchel's side will fork out a total of €15m (£12.3m), and he will arrive in the English capital to complete his medical and finalise his move on Sunday.
However, Slonina will not be at Chelsea's disposal until January 1, with the teenager set to complete the 2022 MLS season with Chicago Fire before linking up with Tuchel's squad.
The USA youth international came through the youth academy at the Fire and was called up to the Stars and Stripes team for a friendly with Bosnia-Herzegovina last year, during which he was an unused substitute.
Slonina is set to arrive at Chelsea to act as Tuchel's number two behind Edouard Mendy, which could open the door for Kepa Arrizabalaga to leave the club in the current window.
The world's most expensive goalkeeper only made four Premier League appearances last term after losing his place in the side to Mendy and missed the crucial penalty against Liverpool in the EFL Cup final after being brought on in extra time.
© Reuters
Napoli are rumoured to be closing in on the signing of Kepa, who would join the Serie A club on loan with an obligation to buy in the summer of 2023.
Slonina would become Chelsea's fourth signing of the summer window, following Omari Hutchinson, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly to the club for the 2022-23 season.
Tuchel is still after at least one more defensive reinforcement, but the Blues have lost out on numerous targets already this summer, namely Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde.
Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger have already left the club, while the Spanish duo of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso are still being linked with moves to Barcelona.
However, Chelsea may have been handed a boost in their efforts to sign Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar, as Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to walk away from talks with the Nerazzurri.
