Chelsea has made a final £13m bid for Cesare Casadei, with a further £4.2m to be paid in add-ons which Inter is expected to accept.
The 19-year-old has long been a target for the Blues and has met the Italian side's asking price after two previous bids of under £10m were rejected.
The Blues will beat late competition from the French side Nice, who is hoping to steal the transfer.
Chelsea is currently discussing the intricacies of a transfer and hopes to arrange a medical for the box-to-box midfielder in the next 48 hours, on personal terms on a six-year contract agreed verbally on Monday night.
Inter understand the sale will help fund the permanent signing of Romelu Lukaku - who is on loan for a season at Chelsea and there is an informal agreement between the two clubs for a second year at the San Siro when the situation is right.
Casadei's signing is part of a succession plan for N'Golo Kante and Jorginho, who both have less than a year left on their current contracts.
It is also part of the efforts of the new Boehly-Clearlake ownership group to continue to develop the club's academy, with Director Neil Bath taking it to the next level by recruiting the world's best young talent.
Jose Feliciano of Clearlake Capital, who partly owns Chelsea, was spotted at Kingsmeadow this week while Bath and Thomas Tuchel watched the U21s' shock 3-0 loss to Fulham. They watched Carney Chucumeka compete in Chelsea colors for the first time since his £20m arrival from Aston Villa, while Ben Chilwell, Trevo Chalobah, and Ethan Ampadu played to match fitness.
Chelsea has spent around £40m on academy stars including Cassaday, Chucumeka, Arsenal's Omari Hutchinson, West From's Leo Cardoso, and Southampton duo Tyler Dibling and Eddie Beach. At least one further commitment is planned in the youth area.
Including first-team players, summer spending is already in excess of £180m, with talks continuing for Leicester defender Wesley Fofana, Everton striker Anthony Gordon and Barcelona duo Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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