Chelsea are apparently not done with transfers this summer and are looking to buy another four players according to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol.
The Premier League champions expect tougher competition from their rivals next season and have been busily beefing up their squad with the arrivals of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger and finally Alvaro Morata.
But it looks like, final is not final yet at Stamford Bridge. Antonio Conte is looking for more players after he revealed while on the Asia preseason tour, that the numbers are not enough for the season he expects his side to have.
We need to improve the quality and improve the squad because next season will be very tough for us. We are 16 players, without the goalkeepers, and to face four competitions in a good way we need more players.
We are in a moment where we have to create solid foundations for this club, we have lost a lot of big players that were fundamental at Chelsea. We can’t make a mistake because it’s very dangerous. I repeat, we need to improve and increase our squad and to be something important for the present but also for our future.
Antonio Conte, Telegraph
With the departures of John Terry, Nathan Ake, Kurt Zouma, Diego Costa and the imminent Nemanja Matic exit makes Chelsea weak in numbers.
Last season Conte trusted only 13 players in the Premier League to play more than 10 minutes of Premier League action, a statistic that exposes the frail quality in numbers.
There’s Champions League football to add up to Premier League and domestic cups, and Conte wants four more players per journalist Sollhekol.
Chelsea want to buy another four players this summer. Shortlist includes Alex Sandro, Fernando Llorente, Antonio Candreva & Virgil Van Dijk
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) July 24, 2017
All four players have been linked to Chelsea this summer and the report confirms the Blues continue to monitor their situations.
Alex Sandro is a long term target by Conte although Juventus stand firm on their decision not to sell the marauding left full back.
Fernando Llorente and Antonio Candreva are more realistic deals however Southampton’s Virgil Van Dijk is keen to join Liverpool instead of Chelsea.
It will be interesting to see how some of these transfers will pan out, but as they always say, in the transfer window, anything is possible.
Below are some reactions to the report from Chelsea fans on social media:
Sandro is great but why the need to replace Marcos Alonso?
— Tonymufc (@ChrisAnt87) July 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/Moui_/status/889627555514470401
https://twitter.com/LibpoolFC/status/889610572316147714
Would likely only get 3 of these as we only have space for 3 more non-homegrown players, & that's after selling Matić & Costa
— Jamie Pettett (@JamiePettett) July 25, 2017