Chelsea winning the race to sign French centre-back

Chelsea are reportedly ahead of Arsenal and Barcelona in the race to sign Malang Sarr on a free transfer agreement.

The Frenchman is out of contract since his decision to leave Nice in July and he has been linked with a number of elite European sides.

Both the Gunners and Blaugrana are said to have held talks with the player's agent, but Telefoot claims that the Blues are clear favourites to land his services.

It is added that the west London side are close to finalising a five-year contract with the 21-year-old, who represented Nice on 119 occasions in the previous four seasons.

The Blues have already strengthened their squad with the purchases of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner and they are close to signing Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell from Bayer Leverkusen and Leicester City respectively.

Thiago Silva is also expected to join them on a free transfer and Malang would be the second central defensive addition. However, he may not feature for the first team and reports claim that he could be loaned out next season.