Earlier this week it emerged that Nottingham Forest had reached an agreement to sign Malick Fofana from Lyon.
However, with the move not agreed with the player, several sides are now looking to hijack the deal.
According to the Independent, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are among those who have made contact with the 20-year-old, who is available for £51.5million. European giants are also in the picture, including Bayern Munich and Napoli.
Chelsea have been heavily linked with Fofana already this summer and could move to pounce on the opportunity, having now wrapped up their hijack of Newcastle’s top target Joao Pedro.