Chelsea have been told by Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv that they must make an improved offer of £11million if they want to secure the signature of Brazilian forward Taison.

The Guardian has reported that Chelsea have already agreed personal terms with Taison but must now negotiate with Metalist who are keen to secure the best deal possible for the former Internacional forward.

Taison
Taison is said to have already agreed personal terms with Chelsea [Reuters]

The 24-year-old is said to be keen to move to Chelsea where he would be reunited with his former Internacional team-mate Oscar who has impressed since moving to Stamford Bridge at the start of the season.

Taison has caught the eye with his performances for Metalist in the Europa League where he scored a stunning goal that drew comparisons with Marco van Basten's incredible volley against the USSR at Euro '88.

He has the ability to play anywhere across the front line and, despite having never played international football, there is a belief that he would be granted a work permit if he moved to the Premier League.

Should Taison arrive in west London then he would be the second January signing as Chelsea have already signed Demba Ba from Newcastle, while Yossi Benayoun was also brought back to the club after a loan spell at West Ham.

The former Liverpool midfielder will certainly find it hard to get in the Chelsea side and Benitez has admitted that there is plenty of competition for places in midfield.

"Benayoun is injured and he's working with the physios," said Benítez. "We will see what happens. He's not a Florent Malouda [who is not being considered for the first team after a dispute with the club last summer] but the question is how many players we have in these positions, and we have six. So we have to manage the situation."

London