Chelsea's desperation to land top midfield target Moises Caicedo from Brighton and Hove Albion could come at a particular cost for academy product Conor Gallagher.
Brighton's insistence on Chelsea paying £100m for a player who has four years to run on his recently-signed contract may see the Blues offer a player in part exchange.
According to The Mirror, Gallagher could be the fall guy, with Chelsea potentially set to give the long-serving midfielder - thought to be worth £30m - to Albion plus a fairly sizable sum on top.
Selling a player of Gallagher's quality, who has been shaped by the club during his 15 years in West London, could be the first howler of Mauricio Pochettino's tenure.
Gallagher starred on loan with Crystal Palace in the 2021-22 season, earning the first of his six England senior caps in the process, before being given a chance to impress in a tumultuous season for Chelsea last time out.
The 23-year-old made 35 appearances in the Premier League - the joint-most of any Chelsea player, along with Kai Havertz - while no Blues player won WhoScored's Man of the Match award on more occasions.
Gallagher's 0.14 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes over the past 12 months ranks him in the top 13% of his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues, meanwhile, and he is in the top 4% for progressive passes received (6.09 per 90), which records completed passes of at least ten yards towards the opposition's goal.
With figures like that, FBref's comparison model adjudges Jude Bellingham to be the player most like Gallagher in terms of statistical profile. For example, Gallagher's 0.17 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes last season was similar to that of Bellingham's 0.23 at Borussia Dortmund.
Gallagher and Bellingham also find the target from a near identical number of their shots (39.3% and 34.8% respectively), and likewise when it comes to passes completed - 81.1% v 81.7%.
The similarities do not stop there, as Gallagher and Bellingham touched the ball in the opposition penalty box 3.28 and 3.51 times respectively per 90 minutes last season - showing a knack to get themselves in dangerous positions.
Factor in the defensive side of their games, with Gallagher averaging 2.56 tackles per 90 last season compared to 2.54 for Bellingham, and Chelsea may just have a future £100m player on their hands - the fee Real Madrid were happy to splash out for the England international.
It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino once dubbed him "Kante with goals."
Gallagher has been hailed plenty for the way he goes about his business, with then-Palace boss Patrick Vieira describing him as "really humble" after scoring twice in a 3-1 win against Everton in December 2021.
Vieira also predicted Gallagher would continue to improve throughout his career, yet the Blues will not reap the rewards of that if they are to let him leave this summer.
Caicedo would be a superb and potentially transformative signing for Pochettino, but it should not come at the expense of letting such a superb homegrown talent in Gallagher leave.