Genk: De Bruyne in talks over Chelsea deal

The 20-year-old has been strongly linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge for the past 18 months, but any deal was not expected to be struck until the summer.

However, it appears that an £8 million fee has been agreed with the youngster, who has four goals and four assists in 21 games for Genk this season.

It is believed that any deal will see De Bruyne finish the season in Belgium, with the Blues keen for the player to gain as much first-team experience as possible.

And the Belgian Pro League club have now confirmed that director of sport Dirk Degraen has flown to London to continue talks with the Premier League giants.

"Dirk Degraen is in London and the expectation is that it [the transfer of De Bruyne] will be finished this week," a Genk spokesman said.

"The assumption is that De Bruyne will be transferred to Chelsea and then will finish the season [on loan] at Genk."

Should a deal for De Bruyne be reached, the youngster will be the third Belgian to arrive in West London in the last six months, following Romelu Lukaku and former team-mate Thibaut Courtois.

ByBen McAleer