The Ecuador international is Chelsea’s top midfield target for the summer window but their latest offer of £70m has been

rejected by Brighton.

It’s understood that Brighton are holding out for a fee in the region of £100m and are using Arsenal’s £105m deal with West

Ham for Declan Rice as a benchmark.

According to MailOnline, Chelsea are not giving up following their latest setback and intend to return with an offer worth

£80m plus further bonuses.

The report also claims that Chelsea are considering signing a new central defender fofana.

Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino has stressed the urgency for Chelsea to bring in new signings before the new Premier League season begins.

‘I want the right profiles, the right players, to arrive and improve the squad,’ Pochettino said.

‘Of course, as soon as possible is better than later. Today is better than tomorrow. We need to work really hard on the targets

we have. We know it’s difficult. We have a very young squad.

‘It is a challenge. It is something we knew when we accepted being in charge of this club. Nothing to complain about, it is a

really exciting moment.

‘We are confident we can build a really good squad that is ready to compete in the Premier League. We are still working to

finish it,

‘Just not interested’ – Brighton end interest in player, have another target

Earlier in the summer window, Voetbal International reported Calvin Bassey is high on Brighton & Hove Albion’s wish list,

after they showed ‘extensive interest’ before the defender joined Ajax last summer.

On July 3rd, Calciomercato.it reported the Seagulls were ‘trying to close’ a deal for the 23-year-old after they made progress

in negotiations with the Dutch club to secure his services.

There’s also been claims elsewhere that an English club have made a €20m bid for the centre-back. De Telegraaf journalist

Mike Verweij has dismissed this during Kick-Off Podcast, relayed by Soccernews.nl.

With regards to Brighton, Verweij claims they are “just not interested in Bassey at the moment”. He adds the Nigeria

international is expected to continue with the Eredivisie side, unless they receive an offer of around €23m in this window.

Soccernews.nl say the former Rangers man, who made 39 appearances for Ajax, had a ‘disappointing’ debut season.

The latest claims from Italy have said Roberto De Zerbi’s side are keen on signing Fiorentina’s Igor Julio.

Earlier today, FirenzeViola.it reported Brighton are optimistic of agreeing a deal with the Serie A side for the Brazilian’s

transfer after working out the details of his personal contract.

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