Espí, 21, emerged as one of Spanish football's standout young forwards in the second half of last season, scoring 11 times to help Levante secure their La Liga survival. His omission from Levante's squad for last Sunday's friendly has been widely read as a sign his departure is close, with Ipswich currently favourites ahead of a similarly sized rival offer.
Hull City and Lazio have also been credited with willingness to pay the release clause, underlining the scale of interest generated by his breakout campaign.
Bologna have tracked Espí for weeks and view him as an ideal fit for their attack, but their move for the Spaniard is contingent on generating funds elsewhere, principally through the sale of Santiago Castro. That transfer has been agreed with Roma for around €35 million plus bonuses, and would in theory free up the resources needed to match the Premier League clubs' offers for Espí.
In practice, though, Bologna have already committed much of that incoming money to a separate deal, having agreed to take AS Roma's Artem Dovbyk on loan with an €18 million option to buy as Castro's replacement.
That leaves Espí as more of an alternative than a certainty, with sporting directors Giovanni Sartori and Marco Di Vaio also having identified Robinio Vaz, also of Roma, and Napoli's Lorenzo Lucca, back from a loan at Nottingham Forest, as other options for the position. Whether Bologna choose to rival Ipswich Town's offer for Espí now looks to depend largely on the Spaniard's own preference, with Serie A interest alone no longer enough to guarantee he lands in Italy.
Espí's release clause is technically negotiable, according to reports in Italy, but Levante have shown no willingness to accept anything below the full amount given the interest already on the table. AC Milan, Napoli, Bournemouth, Strasbourg, Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Barcelona have all been linked with the forward at various points this year, a measure of how far his stock has risen since establishing himself as Levante's first-choice striker midway through last season.
Standing at 1.94 metres and combining physical strength with an eye for goal, Espí is contracted until 2028, giving Levante no urgency to lower their demands regardless of which suitor meets them.