£45m Chelsea bid accepted, Conte to land PL star as £70m+ spending spree continues

Chelsea have reportedly had a £45m bid for Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez accepted as talk intensifies he’s on his way to Stamford Bridge.

Speculation started early on Thursday morning after the 26-year-old was allowed to leave training camp with Algeria to complete his move.

It wasn’t clear as to where he would be travelling or who he would be joining at first, but The Sun, via BeIN Sports, have now reported that it’s with a view of joining Chelsea after they had a £45m bid accepted by the Foxes.

It’s claimed that the Premier League champions have been given the green light to move forward with the deal, but Leicester have not confirmed that any such agreement has been reached.

It certainly appears as though Mahrez is on the move ahead of the transfer deadline on Thursday night though, as it seems to be the only logical option after he left his international teammates and was spotted at an airport in Paris, as noted by the Sun.

As a result, the only thing to clear up it seems is his next destination and for how much, and this report seems to fill in the blanks. With time running out, it remains to be seen if it is indeed Chelsea.

Meanwhile, should Mahrez join in a reported £45m deal, he’ll join Torino right-back Davide Zappacosta as a deadline-day signing for the Blues, with Gianluca Di Marzio earlier noting that the Italian is set to join Chelsea for €25m.

They may well have left it late, but Conte has made no secret of his desire to add quality and depth to his squad, and it looks as though he’s finally getting to do that.