Manchester City have lodged a bid to sign Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic. The Treble winners are thought to have offered the Blues £25 million to sign the Croatian midfielder and all parties are hopeful of a conclusion before the end of the week.

City were given permission to speak to the 29-year old at the start of the month, before he went on international duty, to ascertain personal terms. Kovacic’s departure will bring his five-year spell at Stamford Bridge to an abrupt end, having initially joined on-loan from Real Madrid.