Chelsea prepare cash plus player deal for Leicester striker Jamie Vardy

Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy and are willing to sweeten the deal with a cash plus player offer for the 29-year-old. Loic Remy is being prepared as a leverage in the deal, with Leicester also in the market to strengthen in the forward position.

The Mirror reports that the Premier League leaders are unwilling to sell midway through the season as they smell a chance of finishing in the top four at the very least, if not go all the way to win the title. Chelsea will face competition from Manchester United and Manchester City, who according to Sky Sports, are also monitoring the situation at the club.

The Red Devils have the money to spare if Vardy is made available in the current transfer window, with Louis van Gaal looking to add to the squad in a bid to rejuvenate their season. The 20-time English Champions are currently struggling in fifth spot, five points adrift of fourth placed Tottenham and 10 behind leaders Leicester City.

Vardy is rated at £30m ($43m) by the leaders but Claudio Ranieri has no intention of selling his star player, who came back to goal scoring ways against Stoke City in their 3-0 demolition at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes are willing to offer a straight cash deal for Remy, who is willing to move out of Stamford Bridge in search of first team football.

"It's important to have — I need, I'd like to have — two players for every position now. I'd like another striker to give support to the other three, because our strength is playing at high intensity and it's not possible to play at high intensity for all the season, for this reason," Ranieri said.

"Everyone is reinforcing or buying players because they want to save their season or they want to win something. We want to maintain our position. I know it's difficult but we must try."