Barcelona have made an astonishing £65million offer for Chelsea winger Willian.

The Spanish champions are determined to sign the 29-year-old as they want quality first team options to take the burden off Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri is an admirer of Willian but the lure of Barcelona and the prospect of linking up with Messi and Philippe Coutinho is understandably tempting for the Brazilian.

Barcelona have increased their offer for Chelsea star Willian to £65million

Maurizio Sarri would like to keep Willian but the lure of a move to Barcelona is difficult to resist

Sportsmail exclusively revealed Barcelona's opening offer of £50million last month and the latest is their third bid. As the price escalates, they are increasingly concerned that Manchester United could yet step into proceedings with Jose Mourinho a confirmed fan.

Chelsea are said to be considering Barcelona's latest bid as opposed to dismissing it out of hand like the previous two.

Chelsea are known to have an admiration for Anthony Martial but United are reluctant to sell the Frenchman and the Stamford Bridge club are pressing on with negotiations for Aleksandr Golovin from CSKA Moscow ahead of Monaco making a rival £30m offer.

Should they sell Willian it will be for optimum price and will send out a signal to Real Madrid that they are also prepared to dig in their heels over Eden Hazard.