Chelsea 'confident ahead of Sancho transfer battle with Man Utd'

Chelsea are ready to break their transfer record in the pursuit of Borussia Dortmund's wantaway forward Jadon Sancho and are confident about their chances of landing him ahead of Manchester United either in January or next summer.

The Blues are pressing ahead with transfer plans, despite their current ban on signing players, with a Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] appeal verdict due any day, and are willing to pay more than the £72 million they stumped up to capture goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Club last year.

Sancho enjoys a close relationship with a number of Chelsea players, including England team-mates Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi, and hails from London.

He is understood to be ready to leave Dortmund after enduring a turbulent start to the Bundesliga season as, although Sancho's output has remained high, he has been hit with disciplinary sanctions this term.

Sancho would likely command a fee above that figure given his current contract runs until 2022.

United are prepared to pay up to €140m (£119m/$155m) to land Sancho in January but are hampered by the fact that they are 10th in the Premier League, ahead of Wednesday's home date with Tottenham, and a long way from the Champions League places Chelsea currently occupy.