CHELSEA TRANSFER NEWS: LATEST ON ANTONIO CONTE’S SEARCH FOR PLAYERS
Tuesday August 8
Chelsea hope for Van Dijk
10:33: Virgil van Dijk is understood to prefer a move to Liverpool, where he would play under Jurgen Klopp.
But The Times say Chelsea and Arsenal hope that Southampton could still refuse to sell their captain to Liverpool because of the whole tapping up situation.
Antonio Conte and Arsene Wenger are both set to play three centre-backs this season and are interested in Premier League-proven Van Dijk.
Conte wants Sidibe
09.00: Chelsea have identified Monaco defender Djibril Sidibe as their latest target, according to Italian outlet TransferMarketWeb.
Having seemingly missed on Juventus’ Alex Sandro, the Blues have switched their attention to the highly-rated France international.
The report says Monaco could allow Sidibe to follow Bakayoko to Chelsea, providing they find cover for the Frenchman.
The Ligue 1 champions are keen to sign Aston Villa left-back Jordan Amavi and his arrival could set the wheels in motion for a deal.
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Chelsea are expected to compete with Manchester United for Gareth Bale
Mourinho can win Bale – Henry
08:15: Manchester United can blow other clubs out of the water in the race for Gareth Bale, Thierry Henry believes.
Express Sport understands Chelsea are also serious contenders to land the Real Madrid star.
However, Thierry Henry questions whether any other club can rival United for Bale, as Mourinho has already admitted he is ready to “fight”.
“[Bale] is made for every league,” Henry said on Sky Sports’ The Debate show.
“If he becomes available I don’t think it will only be Man Utd going in for him.
“But on the other side how many teams could compete with what Manchester United could offer?
“When you have a guy like Gareth Bale he gives you another dimension. If he leaves I’m sure [Mourinho] will try and buy him – and if he comes then watch out everybody.”
Serge Aurier talks
05:00: Chelsea are locked in talks with Paris Saint-Germain over a £27million move for full-back Serge Aurier.
The champions have been galvanised into trying to push several big-money deals over the line before the transfer deadline, with unhappy manager Antonio Conte increasing his demands for more new faces.
The controversial Aurier, who is also the subject of a bid by Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, has now become the player Conte is pushing hardest for.
Express Sport understands talks have been held.
The one major complication to the deal is that the 24-year-old Ivory Coast international is currently banned from entering the UK.
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Chelsea Transfer News: Gary Cahill is concerned by the size of the squad
Ian Wright on Diego Costa
03:15: Chelsea will be losing at least 20 goals a season should Diego Costa leave this summer, according to Ian Wright.
Diego Costa was told by Antonio Conte in June via a text message that he was free to leave as he isn’t a part of his long-term plans.
Chelsea have strengthened up front with the club-record capture of Alvaro Morata for £60million.
But Wright thinks that besides struggling to replace Costa’s goals, the current Blues squad lacks depth.
“With Costa not involved you have taken away 20 goals and someone has to replicate that,” Wright told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I’m not saying Morata won’t do that, but when you look at Chelsea as a whole, they have a good team but are lacking depth.”
Jamie Carragher on Nemanja Matic’s move to Manchester United
01:30: Nemanja Matic’s move to Manchester United sums up Chelsea’s business model.
Those are the thoughts of Jamie Carragher.
Carragher admits he is surprised by the nature of the deal, insisting it typifies the west London outfit’s business model.
“Matic’s move to Manchester United was the perfect example of that,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“His replacement is a 23-year-old but you don’t know how good he’ll be.
“That has been their business model going forward.”
Jamie Carragher on Antonio Conte
00:00 In other news, Jamie Carragher has explained he would be very surprised if Antonio Conte is still in charge of Chelsea in 12 months’ time.
Conte steered Chelsea to the Premier League title last term – his debut campaign with the Blues.
However, after missing out on several key summer transfer targets, the Italian tactician has voiced his concerns.
And Carragher has compared Chelsea to Real Madrid, highlighting how the duo’s ‘ruthless business models’ means firing bosses is a tradition that is likely to continue.
“I’ll be very surprised if he’s Chelsea manager when I’m sitting here in 12 months’ time,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“I think he’s the type of manager that won’t accept involvement from people above especially on the back of winning the title.”
Monday August 7
Drinkwater to snub Chelsea?
21:30: Chelsea target Danny Drinkwater looks set to stay at Leicester this summer, according to the bookies.
The Premier League champions have been heavily linked with a £30m move for the Leicester midfielder in recent weeks.
But bookmakers Betfair reckon Drinkwater is expected to remain at the King Power Stadium, pricing the 27-year-old at 1/7 to stay put.
While the England international is at odds of 7/2 to switch to Stamford Bridge before the summer transfer window shuts.
Drinkwater has the quality – Schwarzer
18:32: Mark Schwarzer has backed Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater to move to Premier League champions this summer.
“He’s not a Matic, he’s more of a creative player,” said Schwarzer, who worked with Drinkwater at Leicester from 2015 to 2016.
“At Leicester last season we saw that he struggled without having N’Golo Kante next to him, but Danny Drinkwater is a very talented young man and has done incredibly well at Leicester.
“I think he’s capable of making that step up.”
Van Dijk transfer request
17:30: Virgil van Dijk has handed in a transfer request at Southampton.
In a lengthy statement, the Liverpool and Chelsea target said: “Over the past six months I have held numerous discussions with representatives of the board, the former manager Claude Puel as well as the new manager Mauricio Pellegrino to inform them all of my desire to leave the club in search of a new challenge.
“I am incredibly ambitious and want to achieve as much as I possible can to fulfil my potential in what is a very short career as a professional footballer. I want to play European football again and challenge for major honours and as such I would like Southampton to condor the interest in me from top clubs should it still exist.”
“The period of time that I have just spent injured and unable to play has put a number of things into perspective and made me realise just how important it is to take major opportunities should they arise.
“I have consistently relayed my feeling to senior management at Southampton in what I believed to be private and personal conversations. Disappointingly, these conversations have regularly found their way into the media.
“I would also like to make clear that I have never once refused to train. I can confirm I was asked about my frame of mind and for all of the reasons mentioned above I was open and honest in saying that I did not feel I was in a settled mindset given the circumstances.
“Following this conversation the manager explained that he only wanted players who he felt were 100% committed to Southampton and told me I would therefore have to train away from the first team.”
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Antonio Conte says he wouldn’t be able to prevent Eden Hazard leaving Chelsea
Savic wants Costa
16:31: Atletico Madrid ace Stefan Savic wants Diego Costa to leave Chelsea and join him in Spain.
Atletico are linked with Costa, who wants to re-join his former side.
But the La Liga club are under a transfer embargo meaning Costa would be banned from playing for them for six months if he joined.
But Savic still wants him to move back to Madrid.
“If he comes, we know he could improve the quality of any team,” Savic told reporters after Atletico beat Brighton 3-2 in a friendly yesterday.
“He is one of the most important players in the world.
“There is not much else to say about him.”
Simeone tight-lipped over Costa return
13:15: Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has refused to be drawn into discussion over whether Chelsea striker Diego Costa will return to the club.
And when asked for his thoughts about whether Costa could be on the move, Simeone said: “Costa? The club are the ones that are working on these situations.
“I don’t have time to think about anything other than improving my players.
“There’s nothing else to say about him, he’s not our player.”
Size DOES matter…
12:45: Gary Cahill thinks Chelsea have added quality to their ranks, but isn’t entirely sure about the quantity.
Asked if he felt the champions’ squad was small, Cahill pointed to the squad lists on the back of the match-day programme – which had 24 Chelsea players listed compared to 41 from Arsenal.
“I don’t know, the back of the programme was interesting today,” he said.
“But in terms of quality we’ve certainly got that and you just have to hope we don’t have too many injuries.
“Obviously the new players that have just come, they’re going to be vitally important for us and the quicker they settle, the better, but there’s no doubt we’ve added quality to the team.
“They’re going to be tested 100 per cent. We’ll see how that plays out, but we just have to keep everybody fit, keep everybody sharp. Rest is going to be important because we’re going to have a lot of games.”
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Diego Costa was told in June he wasn’t part of Antonio Conte’s long-term plans
Morata will come good – Pedro
11:45: Pedro is confident summer signing Alvaro Morata will recover from his lacklustre debut in yesterday’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal.
The striker, who arrived from Real Madrid last month, replaced Michy Batshuayi in the 74th minute and missed his penalty.
But Pedro thinks he’ll become a key player in the future.
He said: “Morata is an important player and will become a key player for us.
“He is going to bring a lot to this team, especially with his goals. He needs time to adapt. We will soon benefit from his goals.”
Aurier to snub Chelsea
10:50: Manchester United could still sign Paris St-Germain full-back Serge Aurier.
The Red Devils, along with Premier League rivals Chelsea, have both been linked with the 24-year-old, who’s been banned from entering the UK.
French newspaper L’Equipe says Aurier would rather join Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
And a breakthrough could happen in the next 24 hours with Aurier set to learn if his appeal against the ban has been successful today.
Courtois to take more penalties? Lawro think so…
10:10: Errr, here’s an interesting line from Match of the Day pundit Mark Lawrenson.
He thinks more goalkeepers should take penalties, despite Thibaut Courtois ballooning his spot kick over the bar yesterday.
I worry why goalkeepers don’t take more penalties because if you really seriously think about it and we live in a world of stats with football nowadays,” he mused on Match of the Day.
“They strike more dead balls than anybody else on the football pitch it was just a poor penalty.
“It’s down Watford Junction High Road the ball.”
