Inter Milan representatives are set to fly out to Munich on Thursday in a bid to beat Stoke City to the signing of Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Serie A club are reported to have tabled a bid for the 23-year-old, who has been given the green light to leave Bayern Munich this winter.
The Switzerland international is currently Inter's No. 1 target after they secured the services of Lukas Podolski earlier this week.
They are now waiting to hear back from Munich with sporting director Piero Ausilio and general manager Marco Fassone ready to travel to Germany to wrap up a deal with the player, who is due to jet out to Qatar with the Bundesliga club on Friday.
Reports in Italy suggest Shaqiri has elected Milan as his preferred destination, although if Inter's bid -- reported to be an initial two million euros for a loan until the end of the season which would obligatorily become permanent for a further 12 million euros in June -- is deemed unacceptable, the chances of Stoke succeeding would increase.
The Premier League side appear to have no problem in matching Bayern's 20-million asking price for the former Basel midfielder and Shaqiri's agent, Arber Sakiri, told The Sun that his client "has been hugely impressed by Stoke City."
"They have requested to meet him on five or six occasions and are very much in our thoughts," added Sakiri. "Stoke had a certain reputation before but it's clear [manager] Mark Hughes has changed the club's outlook.
"Xherdan is aware Stoke do not play the type of football they did a few years ago. He's aware Bojan is enjoying his football and has settled in well there and has been talking highly of the club. Xherdan is certainly interested in what Stoke have been saying."
Either way, Bayern hope to conclude a deal before they fly out for their winter training camp.
Sakiri added: "There are a lot of big clubs interested in him and this is a very important move in his career. But things are moving quickly and Bayern want this resolved soon."