Nottingham Forest have reached out to Chelsea with an official proposal to sign English centre-back Trevoh Chalobah, according to the Daily Mail.
The Tricky Trees have formalised their interest in the defender with a £25 million bid, which could be deemed insufficient by the Blues.
Chalobah has been repeatedly linked with a departure from Stamford Bridge this summer, with a number of high-profile clubs across Europe registering an interest.
Inter Milan had previously sounded out the possibility of signing the Englishman earlier this summer, but they switched their attention to Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard.
The Frenchman’s departure from the Allianz Arena forced the German champions to make another foray into the transfer market in search of a replacement.
Their search landed them at Chelsea’s table, with both clubs now reportedly in talks over a potential season-long loan deal for Chalobah.
Forest are highly unlikely to be successful with their proposal, considering Chelsea are demanding at least £50m to cut ties with their academy graduate.
Their valuation of Chalobah has caused negotiations with Bayern to move slowly, although the German champions are eager to strike an agreement.
Chalobah is yet to make his competitive debut in the Mauricio Pochettino era, with the 24-year-old currently nursing an injury he picked up during the pre-season tour of the United States.
He may have played his last game in a Chelsea shirt for the season, although his departure hinges on prospective suitors submitting favourable terms to acquire his services.
Forest have sparked into life in the latter stages of the summer transfer window and are looking to complete several deals ahead of the deadline.
The Reds have already done business with Chelsea this summer after signing Andrey Santos but will need to do better than their initial proposal to lure Chalobah to City Ground.
Forest have picked up just one win from their opening three Premier League games while also getting knocked out of the League Cup by Burnley.
They will need further reinforcements to bolster their chances of surviving relegation at the second time of asking.
