Gary Cahill could become Andre Villas-Boas' first new signing at Chelsea.
The new manager has told his top scouts he wants the Bolton centre half, 25, to partner John Terry at the heart of his defence.
But Villa-Boas may have to move swiftly to land the £17million-rated defender after Arsenal and Tottenham both drew up plans to try and sign him.
Chelsea also have placed Samir Nasri on their list of potential targets after hints that he is ready to leave Arsenal this summer.
Nasri is in the final 12 months of his contract at the club and has rejected a five-year deal worth £90,000 a week, which has been on the table for months.
He will report for pre-season training next week, but his mind will be unsettled by the awareness that Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and others are all poised to swoop. Arsenal cannot compete with the player salaries on offer at the three rival English clubs.
Nasri can double Arsene Wenger's offer and pocket a healthy signing-on fee if an auction develops.
Wenger, though tempted to hang on to the France midfielder for a year before losing him on a free, will be reluctant to have an unhappy player at the club. He will assess Nasri upon his return on Thursday and decide whether Arsenal must cash in on a player who cost £15.8million three years ago.
The Arsenal boss would like to sell him abroad but Nasri, 24, is understood to favour a move to United.
Chelsea and City are battling Barcelona for Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez, but see Nasri as a viable alternative.
Roman Abramovich has his spies monitoring Nasri ahead of what one insider said will be 'a long summer'. Arsenal are in a state of flux.
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