Chelsea transfer rumour: Blues on the lookout to sign Santos defender Thiago Maia in January

Chelsea added two new defenders to the squad this summer, however, the Blues manager Antonio Conte is not happy with his defensive side of his team. The Italian manager has reportedly rekindled his interest on Santos defensive midfielder Thiago Maia and has already prepared a bid of £15m so as to acquire the player’s services in the winter transfer window.

The Londoners had been looking to sign the youngster in July, before his participation in the Rio Olympics for Brazil. However, Santos were not willing to sell the player before the end of the Brazilian league campaign. The Blues have now planned to offer a deal worth £15m for the player in December when the Brazilian Campaign ends.

Maia’s still years left on his contract with Santos which is set to expire in 2019. The player joined Santos in 2011 from Sao Caetano’s youth categories. He went on to make his debut for Santos in October 2014 in the match against Chapecoense, during the Serie A Championship. The 19-year-old defender established himself as a regular starter at Santos in the 2015 campaign after an injury forced fellow Brazilian Alison Lopes Ferreira out in June.

Chelsea has been looking to sign a defender through the summer, however having failed to sign their priority targets the Italian manager ended up bringing in Marcos Alonso and former Blues defender David Luiz as the deadline day signings. While Alonso may prove himself to be a long term choice, at 29 David Luiz is not the long term solution for Chelsea’s defensive reinforcements. Further, the existing first team defenders are all aging.

John Terry has less than a year of his stay left at the Blues, not to mention he will be turning 36 in December. And it is highly unlikely that Chelsea will extend his contract. Meanwhile, Gary Cahill will be turning 31 in December as well and with Branislav Ivanovic at 32, the Blues need some young blood to bolster their backline on a long term basis.

Conte is on the lookout for players so as to strengthen his defence and has been linked with the likes of Martin Caceres, who is a free-agent and can join the Blues anytime. However, the player’s injury record and the presence of two new defenders in the squad does not make a move to Chelsea an attractive prospect.

Further, Chelsea has also included Victor Lindelof from Benfica in their list of targets for the winter transfers and has also enquired regarding Niklas Sule from Hoffenheim.

Maia was the part of the Brazil squad which won the Gold Medal during the Rio Olympics.