Town have made a bid to Danish club FC Nordsjælland for Norwegian international forward Sindre Walle Egeli, according to reports in Scandinavia.
Both Norwegian and Danish sources report that the Blues have offered in excess of €20 million (£17.2 million) for the 19-year-old, who has already won his first senior cap with Norway.
The bid has not been accepted but, according to Norway’s tv2.no, Town aren’t far away from Nordsjælland’s valuation with the clubs continuing talks with a view to concluding a deal.
A fee of £17.2 million would be a new Championship record, eclipsing the £15.4 million Burnley paid Genk for Mike Tresor last summer.
Larvik-born Egeli began his career with Sandefjord in his home country but had only featured for their second team before moving on to his current club in 2022.
Primarily a right-sided forward but also capable of playing on the left and in the middle, Egeli, who is 6ft tall, has won caps with Norway at U15, U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels, He outscored even Erling Haaland for the U16s, bagging 14 goals in 14 games.
He won his first senior cap as a sub in a Nations League game against Kazakhstan last year.
Egeli, whose older brother, Vetle Walle Egeli, plays for Sandefjord as a midfielder, had been interesting Dutch giants PSV and is viewed as one of Europe’s top talents.
Town are looking to add to their attacking ranks following the departures of Nathan Broadhead to Wrexham and Omari Hutchinson to Nottingham Forest and have money to spend having brought in fees totalling more than £70 million this summer for Hutchinson, Broadhead and Liam Delap, who moved to Chelsea for £30 million in June.
At 19, Egeli wouldn't count towards the Blues’ 25-man Championship squad.