Chelsea are confident of signing David Luiz although Paris Saint-Germain are holding out for an offer of between £40 million to £45m for the defender after rejecting an opening bid of close to £35m, sources have told ESPN FC.
Chelsea had considered Aymen Abdennour on loan from Valencia as a backup option after PSG initially said Luiz was not for sale on Tuesday evening, but the Ligue 1 club's stance has softened and the deal now appears to be on.
Luiz moved to Parc des Princes from Stamford Bridge in 2014 in a £50m deal and won nine trophies as part of a team that completed two consecutive domestic clean sweeps under former boss Laurent Blanc.
The Brazil international has started all four of PSG's competitive fixtures so far this season. However, Le Parisien reported earlier this month that new coach Unai Emery has told the 29-year-old that he is no longer guaranteed a starting role.
Captain Thiago Silva is back in training after a hip injury and expected to be available after the international break, while his Brazilian compatriot Marquinhos has returned from Olympic duty in Rio de Janeiro triumphant and is available once again. Both figure ahead of Luiz in Emery's reported pecking order.
PSG rejected Chelsea's opening offer of around £35m on Tuesday, a source close to the French champions has told ESPN FC, but talks are continuing and the Ligue 1 giants are looking for somewhere between £40-£45m, while it is reported the Brazilian is on his way to London ahead of a possible switch.
PSG's David Luiz is reportedly on the Eurostar to London ahead of signing for Chelsea. #CFC https://t.co/wRPD5hfk7A
- Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) August 31, 2016
The sale of Luiz is being given serious consideration by the French club because of Emery's view of the defensive situation and the possibility of selling a player without a European passport.
The former Chelsea man, along with skipper Silva, Maxwell and Lucas Moura, occupy PSG's four non-EU squad slots and selling one of them would enable the Ligue 1 champions to bring in an EU defender as a replacement and use the final foreigner berth for an attacker.
Recently appointed director of football Patrick Kluivert is very keen to bring in an additional striker to back up or compete with the struggling Edinson Cavani and almost all of Les Parisiens' summer targets in this area were non-European.
Luiz does not possess a Portuguese passport from his time with Benfica and counts toward one of the club's non-EU slots. The centre-back is also keen on a return to Stamford Bridge, but is not prepared to force PSG to sell him.
His current employers have been linked with Sao Paulo's Rodrigo Caio as a possible central defensive replacement for Luiz because of the player's recently acquired Italian passport.
Peter O'Rourke contributed to this report.