Chelsea are showing an interest in Fulham forward Moussa Dembele as they seek to rejuvenate their squad for next season.
The 19-year-old is out of contract at the end of the campaign and has caught the eye of a number of clubs after scoring 16 goals for the Championship strugglers.
Tottenham nearly signed the player in January but their interest is now thought to have cooled.
Standard Sport understands Chelsea are monitoring the player closely, as future boss Antonio Conte assesses his options.
Chelsea are keen to strengthen their forward line with an established star and a player with potential. Dembele fits the latter category but they would have to pay a transfer fee for him, even though he would be a free agent.
Should Dembele join, it is expected he would leave on loan — providing Conte’s plans work out. Standard Sport revealed this month he wants to keep Diego Costa and is searching for an established striker with targets including Romelu Lukaku, Edinson Cavani, Gonzalo Higuain, and Mauro Icardi.
Loic Remy is expected to leave while Bertrand Traore is set to take the role of third-choice striker.
The players Antonio Conte wants to transform Chelsea this summer
If Dembele moves abroad, Fulham would get just £300,000 under the Fifa transfer compensation system.
The rules here would yield a far higher fee, as the case of Danny Ings proves. He could cost Liverpool up to £8m, even though he was out of contract at Burnley, because he was under 24 at the time of the transfer.
