Chelsea have two aces up their sleeve in £60m transfer race to foil Spurs' plans

Chelsea may already have the upper hand over Tottenham in the race to sign West Ham star Mohammed Kudus. Both sides have been heavily linked with the versatile forward in recent weeks, and the Ghana international is said to be open to heading elsewhere this summer.

The Blues have already bolstered their attacking ranks markedly in the transfer window so far, with Liam Delap joining the club and deals for Brighton's Joao Pedro and Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Gittens nearing completion.

Further attacking reinforcements are in the pipeline as well, with Kudus emerging as an option being explored at Stamford Bridge. However, Enzo Maresca's side may have to act quickly to prevent the West Ham star from heading to rivals Tottenham - who are also keen.

An offer in the region of £60million is expected to test the resolve of the Hammers for the 24-year-old, but Chelsea may have the ideal opportunity to bring that asking price down and beat Spurs to securing his signature.

According to talkSPORT, West Ham are looking to offload Kudus to fund their own spending spree, and they are interested in bringing in at least one of Chelsea's 'for sale' midfielders once their No. 14 has departed.

Graham Potter's side are interested in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka, which could present Chelsea with the ideal opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and strike a player-plus-cash deal.

Dewsbury-Hall or Chukwuemeka are likely to be viewed as ideal makeweights for the Blues to bring down Kudus' asking price - and given how both players are surplus to requirements, Maresca's side may explore the opportunity to avoid paying a fee entirely and sending the duo to the Hammers.

Tottenham have already seen a bid knocked back for the ex-Ajax star already this week and a fresh approach could be made, which would then give Chelsea plenty to think about - especially if offers for either Chukwuemeka and Dewsbury-Hall aren't particularly forthcoming.

Kudus is capable of playing on either wing, in midfield as a No. 10 or as a makeshift striker when required, and his immense versatility could be the final piece of the puzzle for Chelsea as they look to build an attack capable of competing on all fronts next season.