Leicester City are ready to tell Chelsea that they will have to hand over the Nemanja Matic money to land Danny Drinkwater in the final weeks of the transfer window.

Chelsea will make a second offer of around £25 million for Drinkwater after having an initial £15m bid rejected by Leicester.

Drinkwater is interested in a move to Stamford Bridge, but Leicester value the £27-year-old at £40m – the same fee Chelsea received for Matic from Manchester United.

Drinkwater is two years younger than Matic, has four years remaining on his Leicester contract and counts as a home-grown player which is hugely valuable for clubs competing in both the Premier League and Champions League – such as Chelsea.

Head coach Antonio Conte is desperate for new signings to be made following Chelsea’s opening day defeat to Burnley and the sending off of Cesc Fàbregas, which further reduces his midfield options.