Following on from Guillem Balague’s report earlier that Chelsea have agreed personal terms with AS Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko — whatever actual progress that may or may not represent — here comes word of an actual bid for the 22-year-old as well.

Chelsea offered 38 million (+5 bonus) to Monaco for Bakayoko. #CFC [L'Equipe] pic.twitter.com/X18TNfeQTB — Conteholic (@Conteholic) March 21, 2017

According to L’Equipe, that bid amounts to €38m, plus another €5m in unspecified, presumably performance- or appearances-based bonuses. Those figures match the previously rumored asking price of around €40m for the midfielder.

While these two reports dovetail nicely into something potentially tangible, the timing is rather suspect given the start of the international break and the lull in football news and action it tends to bring along. Gotta keep the masses entertained!

Bakayoko recently received his first ever call-up to the French national team over the weekend, replacing Manchester United’s Paul Pogba in Didier Deschamps’s squad for the matches coming up against Luxembourg and Spain. Deschamps spared little praise in talking about the player who, for now at least, remains eligible for Cote d’Ivoire as well but has chosen to represent his country of birth.

“[Bakayoko] is a fairly complete midfielder. He has an important athletic presence, impact, and is good at recovery. He scores decisive goals and is able to project himself.” -Didier Deschamps; source: L’Equipe via Google Translate

Sounds pretty good!