25 Aug 2016 10:17:33
Having tabled their final bid for Kalidou Koulibaly and decided to pursue other targets as Napoli show no sign of backing down, Chelsea will attempt to persuade AC Milan into selling Alessio Romagnoli.

Milan had claimed that the 21-year-old is not for sale, but Chelsea are ready to test their resolve and attempt to take advantage of the fact the Serie A club are in the middle of a takeover.

Romagnoli is left-footed which is key to Chelsea's interest, as head coach Antonio Conte is short of naturally left-footed players in his squad and the Italian's arrival would give him the option of playing three at the back.



Should a move for Romagnoli fail, then the Blues may rival Napoli for Torino's £25 million-rated defender Nikola Maksimovic who last week went on strike and appears to be the easiest to land of Chelsea's targets.

Alongside their efforts to secure a new central defender, Chelsea are now making serious moves to sign a full-back to provide cover a greater competition in the squad.

Wolfsburg left back Ricardo Rodriguez is a player Chelsea have looked at and could be available for around £17m, while right back Stephan Lichtsteiner, who Conte knows well from their time together at Juventus, is another option.


Conte's priority before the closure of the transfer window is clearly to strengthen his defence and goalkeeper Eduardo is expected to arrive from Dinamo Zagreb to provide support for Thibaut Courtois and Asmir Begovic.

Chelsea are also deliberating over whether or not they need to make a move for another central midfielder before the window shuts, having shelved plans to buy a big-name striker after failing in bids for Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku.

N'Golo Kante has already joined from Leicester City, but Conte could still attempt to bring in another midfielder to provide competition to Nemanja Matic, Oscar and Cesc Fabregas. Chelsea failed with a series of offers for Radja Nainggolan at the start of the window and could be tempted to make another bid following Roma's failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Alternatively, the Blues have been offered Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia, who is willing to leave Santos to move to Europe.

1.) 29 Aug 2016
29 Aug 2016 08:50:53
For me alarm bells started ringing when we were drip fed the news that his rehabilitation was going to take longer than first thought
Iverymuch doubt that he would be afforded the opportunity to get up to speed playing first team football at Chelsea and playing under 23 football would only be a first step.
As for blaming the board they wouldn't be anywhere near these sort of decisions it would be suggested, evaluated and either agreed or dismissed by the football and medical professionals.
Far too many are thinking short term for if he is unable to play when passed both physically and indeed mentally fit then there could be a long term impact in terms of the levels he will reach for its far from certain that he will ever return to the levels of the past or indeed improve.