Victor Moses is closing in on a loan move to Inter, with a €10 million (£9m/$11m) option to buy after returning to Chelsea from his loan deal with Turkish side Fenerbahce.
The Nigeria international is set for a reunion with his former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte after Inter’s swap deal to sign Roma’s Leonardo Spinazzola, with Matteo Politano going the other way, collapsed.
The loan arrangement will allow the Italian giants to spread the cost of the deal, while Chelsea have been trying to sell Moses since he fell out of favour following Conte's departure from Stamford Bridge in 2018.
Fenerbahce never had any realistic prospect of signing the winger permanently due to their financial problems and Conte will likely use him at wing-back once again after Moses played a key role in Chelsea’s Premier League title success in 2016-17 in that position.
Inter are having a very active January transfer window as they push to overhaul Juventus in the Serie A title race in Conte’s first season in charge of the club.
They have already signed Manchester United's Ashley Young in a €1.5m deal and the 34-year-old will likely play as the left-sided wing-back, with Moses on the right side.
Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud and Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen are also in talks with the Nerazzurri. Giroud's deal to join Inter only lacks an agreement on the fee but those talks have slowed down after Politano's move to Roma collapsed at the weekend.
"With Oli [Giroud] there isn’t much more to say. On Moses, he is coming back with a view to going somewhere else. Talks are ongoing," Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said on Monday ahead of his team’s game at home to Arsenal on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Blues coach Eddie Newton is close to leaving Chelsea for Trabzonspor after working in various roles across the club over the past seven years.
The former loan coach is highly respected in west London and this season joined Lampard's backroom staff, but ultimately moved back to his previous job behind the scenes.
He is now likely to link up with former Blues striker Daniel Sturridge in the Turkish Super Lig, with the talks having been confirmed.