Reports: Juventus plan a surprise bid for Chelsea star

What's the story?

With just eight days left for the summer transfer window to close, clubs are trying to strengthen their squads in any way possible.

According to the Sun, Juventus have now contacted Chelsea, quizzing about the availability of Gary Cahill.

In case you didn't know...

Cahill joined Chelsea in 2012 from Bolton and is currently the captain of the side.

The player picked up a straight red card in the first match of this season against Burnley and is serving a 3-match ban.

The heart of the matter

Juventus lost Bonucci to local rivals AC Milan earlier this season after he fell out with the manager. The Italian champions have still not been able to find a suitable replacement for their departed defender.

Bonucci had many options to consider from apart from Milan. He was Antonio Conte's number one choice. However, he wanted to stay in Italy and therefore chose Milan.

The Serie A champions are desperately looking for a replacement and have now turned their attention to Chelsea's Cahill after the club couldn't land their top two targets -- Jerome Boateng and Diego Godin

Cahill seems to have fallen down the pecking order in Antonio Conte's squad with the arrival of Antonio Rudiger. Conte also has other options at that position with the likes of David Luiz and Andreas Christensen.

Christensen had a good game against Tottenham Hotspur this past weekend and is hoping to build on from that performance.

Conte is unsure how big a part the centre-back will play this season and Juventus are interested in taking him away from the Stamford Bridge.

The Italian side have been unable to get their top two targets as a replacement for Bonucci. They also failed to secure deals for Eliaquim Mangala and Ezequiel Garay.

Juventus now plan to take the England international on a loan deal but are willing to pay £16.5 million for the 31-year old.

Meanwhile, Conte is still hopeful of landing Southampton's Virgil van Dijk in the next couple of days.

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Author's take

Many of the Chelsea fans do not prefer the 31-year old anymore and would be open to selling him. However, given the size of the squad, Chelsea should not sell him. As it is the club does not have adequate players and selling more is not going to help.

If Chelsea does get van Dijk, then selling Cahill should not be a problem for the club.