£50m bid required for Chelsea to land England international

Brighton have slapped a £50m asking price on Lewis Dunk's head amid interest from Chelsea, reports The Times.

Frank Lampard is eyeing defensive reinforcements this month now Chelsea's FIFA-imposed transfer ban has been lifted.

Chelsea have struggled at the back this season and Lampard still hasn't established his first-choice defensive pairing.

The Blues have been heavily linked with a move to re-sign Nathan Ake from Bournemouth but it has now emerged they are interested in Dunk.

Dunk has been a huge player for Brighton in the last few years and Graham Potter's side would be reluctant to lose the England international.

They would not stand in Dunk's way of joining a team like Chelsea but are not prepared to roll over and let him go for cheap.

The 28-year-old has impressively played a direct hand in five goals in the Premier League this season (two goals, three assists). He even set up Brighton's equaliser against Chelsea on New Year's Day.

Only Fikayo Tomori (77.4) averages more passes per game than Dunk (68.4) of all English players in the Premier League this season.

Furthermore, only two players have blocked more shots than Dunk in the Premier League since the beginning of last season (54).