Inter Milan boss Rafa Benitez is urging his board to fund a bid for Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill.
Cahill's minders have already been in contact with Inter intermediaries about the prospect of moving to Italy in January.
The Milan-based Mediaset says Inter chiefs Marco Branca and Massimo Moratti recognise the need to rejuvenate an ageing defence, with Marco Materazzi, Ivan Cordoba and Lucio all entering their mid-thirties.
And first on their shortlist of replacements is new England cap Cahill.
