Who will join Frank Lampard's Blues? Get our daily Chelsea newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Chelsea are ready to do a £70m deal in January for Christian Pulisic - but he will not arrive until next summer.

Borussia Dortmund are already bracing themselves to sell Pulisic and they have already held talks with Chelsea who are leading the chase.

USA star Pulisic, 20, will only have one year left on his contract next summer and Dortmund are ready to cut their losses with Chelsea determined to jump to the head of the queue.

That is why Chelsea are ready to get the deal done early even though Dortmund have already made it clear publicly that they will not let him go midway through the season.

Pulisic is being seen as a potential replacement for Eden Hazard with the Belgium superstar’s contract also due to expire in 2020.

(Image: Getty)

That means Chelsea will have to sell him next summer unless he re-signs with Real Madrid monitoring developments closely.

Hazard dropped another hint last weekend that he could leave Chelsea this summer but insists that he has yet to make a final decision.

However, Chelsea have tied down N’Golo Kante to a new five year deal worth £280,000-a-week but they fear they may be fighting a losing battle with Hazard.

Chelsea are looking at alternatives and Pulisic is top of the bill with a growing confidence that he will arrive at Stamford Bridge.