Chelsea closing in on Tyler Adams deal, set to activate USMNT midfielder’s

Chelsea are closing in on a deal to sign Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams.

The Athletic reported on Monday that Chelsea were set to step up their interest in Adams this week, having previously been considering a move for the USMNT international whose contract at Leeds contains a release clause in the region of £20million ($25.5m).

Chelsea are now set to activate that release clause and schedule a medical, with personal terms between the club and the 24-year-old not an issue.

Chelsea’s primary midfield target has been Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises Caicedo. The 21-year-old did not feature in Brighton’s final pre-season game on Sunday and

Chelsea have seen four offers rejected for him so far this summer.

They are expected to bid again for Caicedo and also tabled a £48m offer for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia earlier this week.

Adams, who previously drew interest from Aston Villa, joined Leeds from RB Leipzig last summer and played 24 times as they suffered relegation to the Championship.

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Adams sustained a hamstring injury in March and did not feature during Leeds’ run-in, or in the USMNT’s Nations League fixtures in June. Leeds boss Daniel Farke provided an update on Adams’ injury last week, saying: “Tyler isn’t too far from returning to training. Hopefully, Tyler can return earlier. He was out for such a long time and he needs training.”

Adams was present at Elland Road on Sunday for Leeds’ opening Championship fixture, the 2-2 draw against Cardiff City.

Chelsea have seen several midfielders depart the first-team squad this summer, with Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Mason Mount all leaving. So far, only Lesley Ugochukwu has been added to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, although the teenage Frenchman may yet spend the season on loan at Chelsea’s partner club, Strasbourg. Andrey Santos, signed from Vasco de Gama in January, has featured regularly for Chelsea this pre-season after spending the second half of 2022-23 back on loan with his former club.

(Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)