Chelsea on Tuesday gatecrashed Arsenal's bid to sign Raphinha from Leeds United with a £60million offer.
Talks are advancing after Leeds accepted a bid of £55m plus add-ons with former Chelsea midfielder Deco, Raphinha's agent, at the heart of negotiations.
On a frantic day, Arsenal held talks with Leeds after their initial offer of £30m plus add-ons was rejected last week and put forward a new proposal but they did not come close to Chelsea's offer and the Brazilian winger is now poised to move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea plan to team Raphinha with Raheem Sterling in a new-look strikeforce as they continue parallel discussions with Manchester City over a £55m deal for the England international.