Chelsea will make Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland their top target if goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois leaves the club, according to Sky sources.
Courtois has won two Premier League titles with the Blues but is in the final year of his contract, and his agent has asked Chelsea to let the Belgian join Real Madrid.
Chelsea are reluctant to do so until they have acquired a suitable replacement and have switched their attention to Butland after Everton refused to negotiate over Jordan Pickford - who was England's No 1 ahead of Butland at the World Cup.
Sky Sports News has been told there has already been informal contact between Chelsea and Stoke City at boardroom level over a possible deal for Butland.
The Sky Bet Championship club would be prepared to allow Butland to leave for around £30m, but want any deal to be resolved quickly, so they would have time to buy a replacement themselves.
Trending
- Neville: Man Utd's slow start, Liverpool's top four hopes
- Ighalo on Man Utd 'dream' move, Ole, Pogba, and more
- Fury sets AJ deadline for Tuesday: 'I'll move on!'
- Explained: How Red Bull have ignited Mercedes F1 battle
- Ref Watch: 'Inevitable Cavani goal would be disallowed'
- Barca top Forbes rich list; Man Utd drop to fourth
- Joshua warns Fury: No place to hide now!
- Where Henderson has the edge on De Gea
- Mourinho enraged by Solskjaer's Son comments
- Subscribe to the Pitch to Post podcast
The closer the negotiations go to 5pm on Thursday, the more likely it is that Stoke will demand a bigger fee, Sky Sports News understands.