Chelsea hope to complete the signing of Marseille’s Didier Drogba in the next 24 hours for a club record fee of £26m.
The Ivory Coast international is flying to London to discuss a mmove with officials from the Premier League club.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has finalise his squad before the team travels to the United States on Wednesday and with Marseille already touting for a successor to Drogba, a deal seems inevitable.
“A definite decision will be taken at the start of the week,” said the Marseille president, Christophe Bouchet.
“It must be done quickly so as not to affect the preparations of Marseille or Chelsea.”
Mourinho’s attention turned to Drogba after Hernan Crespo’s departure for Milan.
Marseille, meanwhile, are preparing for life without Drogba, with Czech striker Jan Koller seen as a potential replacement.
