Chelsea have taken the lead in the race to sign Atletico Madrid’s £128 million rated midfielder, Saul Niguez, according to Telegraph.

Atlectico had opened the door to Niguez to leave the club with Chelsea and Manchester United jostling for the midfielder’s signature.

Diego Simeone’s side are open to letting Saul leave on loan for the season and include an option to buy as part of the deal.

Reports in Spain claimed earlier this week that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were ahead of the Blues in their efforts to sign the midfielder.

But The Telegraph reports on Wednesday night that Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea have entered negotiations with Atletico and are exploring a similar deal to the one they agreed for Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid.

Kovacic had initially joined on a one-year loan from Real Madrid before his move was made permanent for a £40 million fee.

However, the Blues would have to let three players, such as Ross Barkley, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater leave the club before completing Saul signing.

Manchester United are in a similar position to Chelsea in their pursuit of Saul as Solskjaer must also trim his squad in order to accommodate the Spain international.