Chelsea are closing in on a £40million deal for Lewis Dunk, with the Brighton captain expecting to move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Dunk, who has made one appearance for England, has spent over a decade at Brighton, playing 306 matches for the Seagulls in three different divisions.
The 28-year-old has emerged as one of Brighton’s most consistent players and impressed this season as the club finished 15th in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s defensive struggles have been well documented and Frank Lampard is desperate to strengthen his squad in that area, having already welcomed attackers Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to the Bridge this summer.
The Blues have expressed interest in signing West Ham’s Declan Rice but his valuation of around £80m has led Chelsea to look elsewhere.
According to The Sun, Dunk is now one of Lampard’s top targets, with Chelsea closing in on a £40m deal for the Brighton defender.
Dunk is a lifelong Chelsea fan and it is claimed he expects to join the Premier League giants in the coming weeks.
Chelsea’s London rivals Tottenham are also interested in signing Dunk, who made his international debut for England in 2018.
Speaking after Chelsea’s final game of the 2019-20 season – a Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich – Lampard admitted he was keen to see more new signings arrive through the doors.
‘We’ll look at that, because that’s our job, we’re very joined up on that already,’ the Blues boss said.
‘From having a transfer ban (last summer) you feel we’ve missed where other clubs have spent and improved, and recruitment is a huge part of this game.
‘Nights like this in a footballing sense, show me a lot, tell me a lot.
‘So it’s a conversation now, the season is ended, it’s a very quick turnaround, so now is the time to see where we can improve, what areas we can improve on.’
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