Chelsea will reportedly no longer be signing midfielder Tyler Adams from Leeds United.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has been determined to add greater top-level experience to the centre of the pitch before the start of the new Premier League campaign.
While the Argentine still has the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher at his disposal, those efforts have, so far, failed to come to fruition despite the ongoing speculation.
However, over the past 36 hours, there have been significant developments in the race to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Although Liverpool had a British-record bid accepted by the Seagulls, the Ecuador international has allegedly indicated that he only wants to make the switch to Stamford Bridge this summer.
© Reuters
If Chelsea are to get a deal over the line for the 21-year-old, they face spending in excess of £110m, considerably more than they were prepared to pay a few days ago.
The knock-on effect could be Chelsea either having to sell at least one player that was due to remain at the club or end their interest in other targets.
Reports have claimed that Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital remain keen to sign Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia in a deal worth in the region of £50m.
Nevertheless, according to Sky Sports News, negotiations for United States international Adams have now been called off.
© Reuters
Earlier this week, the suggestion was that Chelsea had decided to activate his £20m release clause, an option in his contract which was available due to Leeds' relegation to the Championship.
Journalist Dharmesh Sheth says that the relevant parties were unable to reach a final agreement over a switch, subsequently seeing Chelsea walk away from the deal.
Should Chelsea sign each of Caicedo and Lavia, they would be spending at least £160m on just two players at a time when they are still required to fulfil all FFP criteria over the coming weeks.
Despite the prospect of the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Romelu Lukaku all being sold, Chelsea may look to cash in on the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Gallagher to ensure that all regulations are met.
Darren Plant
