Chelsea poised to complete signing of Augsburg defender Baba Rahman

Chelsea are close to completing the signing of left-back Baba Rahman from German club Augsburg, according to the player's agent Sascha Empacher.

Jose Mourinho has been keen to sign a left-back following the return of Felipe Luis to former club Atletico Madrid after just one season at Stamford Bridge and has identified Rahman as the perfect candidate to replace the Brazilian.

"We are trying to sign a left-back. We have only one [César Azpilicueta]. We are trying," Mourinho said, as quoted by the Guardian.

According to the Guardian, the Blues had their initial bid of around €20m (£14m, $22m) rejected by the Bundesliga club, but are said to be satisfied with Chelsea's latest offer of around £17.5m ($27.3m) and are ready to sanction the move for the defender, who only joined Augsburg last summer for £1m from Greuther Furth.

Emapcher, who represents the young Ghanaian, has revealed that the conclusion of the deal is close as the two clubs iron out the details regarding the transfer.

"Both clubs are still working on fine-tuning but we hope the agreement will be finalised soon," the Ghana international's agent told Guardian Sport.

Rahman is said to have caught the attention of Chelsea after they were alerted to his talent by former manager Avram Grant, who coaches the Ghana football team. The Augsburg defender played a key role in his country's run to the finals of the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, which they eventually lost on penalties to Ivory Coast.

Apart from Chelsea, Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City were also linked with moves for the young full back, a Guardian report understands, but it is the Blues, who have won the race for the defender, who will now challenge Cezar Azpilicueta for a place in the starting XI.