Chelsea have stepped up their efforts to recruit a striker by making an offer to sign Edinson Cavani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain until the end of the season.

Chelsea’s proposed deal is to pay an loan fee and cover the forward’s wages, in excess of £360,000 a week, until his contract expires at the end of June. Cavani’s wages alone would total £7.2 million and Chelsea would be expected to pay a fee of at least £5 million

PSG have indicated, however, that they want to sell Cavani for as much as £23 million after he handed in a request to leave this week. Cavani had wanted an 18-month contract during talks with Atletico Madrid, who had a £8.5 million bid rejected by PSG.