Chelsea look to have lost out to Manchester United in the race to sign William Carvalho despite the Blues launching a late attempt to hijack a deal for the Sporting Lisbon star.

The midfielder has long been linked with a move to Old Trafford and the Red Devils have close links with the Portuguese club following the purchases of Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Carvalho has been in Brazil with the Portuguese national team but will meet with Sporting president Bruno De Carvalho this week following their exit from the World Cup.

A report in the Daily Express suggests United have sent a delegation to Lisbon to try and close a deal after Jose Mourinho made tentative enquiries for the 22-year-old.

It had been claimed that Mourinho was willing to offer £11million and the added sweetener of allowing Sporting to loan one Blues player for the whole of next season.

Louis Van Gaal’s side are now thought to be prepared to meet the Lisbon outfit’s demands and table a bid of around £30million to get their man.

Chelsea are already strong in central midfield and have added Cesc Fabregas to their ranks this summer as Roman Abramovich’s big-spending continues at Stamford Bridge.