Morata all but agrees on a move to Chelsea
Chelsea are ready to pay up to £63million to complete the signing of Real Madrid’s out of favour striker Alvaro Morata, according to reports from Don Balon. The report understands, Blues manager Antonio Conte has already agreed to personal terms with the Spanish forward and has assured him first team action next season.
The Blues are in a strong financial situation after sealing a £60m January sale of Oscar to Chinese Super League and if recent reports are to be believed, Diego Costa is set to quit the club after agreeing to a £76m move to the far East as well.
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Antonio Conte is confident of outbidding AC Milan and Manchester United – who have expressed an interest in signing Morata. Furthermore, Don Balon have made a strong claim that Morata’s girlfriend has already bought a house in London in anticipation of the striker's transfer to Premier League.
Diego Costa seals his Chelsea exit?
Chelsea striker Diego Costa is nearing a summer move to the Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian, according to latest reports from the British Media. Costa was pictured having dinner with the club officials last night sparking a fresh set of rumours of his move away from Stamford Bridge.
As per Sky Sports, Costa was ready to join Tianjin Quanjian in January but manager Antonio Conte blocked his transfer. Despite playing a major role in Chelsea’s title push, Costa is set to bag a £31.2m-per-year salary from the Chinese Super League side.
According to reports, the Blues are set to bag a mammoth £76m transfer sum which would enable them to go after any plausible striker replacement. Romelu Lukaku, Andrea Belotti, Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata are said to be on top of Conte’s striker wishlist this summer.
Van Dijk nears a move to Stamford Bridge
Chelsea have edged out Manchester clubs and Liverpool to stand in the pole position to sign Southampton’s central defender Virgil Van Dijk, reports The Independent. Van Dijk has established himself as one of Premier League’s best defenders and is open to the idea of quitting St. Mary’s this summer.
According to The Independent, the Dutch international favours a switch Chelsea instead of Manchester City as Antonio Conte likes to build his team around the defence. John Terry is set to move out of Stamford Bridge this summer and with Gary Cahill heading towards the 30s, Conte sees Van Dijk as a future leader at the back.
Southampton have demanded in excess of £50m to sell the 25-year-old, who is currently ruled out for rest of the season with a foot injury sustained earlier this January in a 3-0 win vs Leicester City.
Conte’s agent sparks unwanted rumour
Antonio Conte’s agent has refused to rule out a summer move for the Italian manager after reports of a possible Inter Milan job surfaced earlier this week. Football Italia are convinced that Inter are looking at Conte as the next man to take charge of the club and are even willing to hand him a £150-200million transfer kitty to rebuild the side.
Conte’s agent Federico Pastorello has done very little to end the speculations after he was quoted saying, “Inter? I’d prefer not to say anything because it’s up to Antonio to decide. He has a two-year contract and Chelsea are happy to keep him.”
Chelsea are currently leading Tottenham by four points in the race to win this season’s Premier League title where Conte has been the biggest driving for a side that finished a disappointing 10th last season. However, Conte is set for a major summer overhaul with most of his core players either looking to seal a transfer move away or are unhappy with the lack of game time.
