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News
Chelsea round-up: Drinkwater to force move; £60m bid prepared; Simeone hints at no Costa deal
As Antonio Conte desperately applies the pressure to club bosses to make progress with their transfer activity, the have a piece of good news for the Italian as Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater may force a move away from the Foxes. He is keen to make the move to join Conte in London.
The report also indicates that Chelsea made a move for the Englishman last summer at the same time as N’Golo Kante but were rebuffed in their approach and opted to prioritise the Frenchman. Now, 12 months later, that move may finally come to fruition if Conte gets his way.
Bosses are clearly trying their best to please Conte, and the say that they could act quickly in order to make a £60 million bid for Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk. Southampton are reluctant to sell but Chelsea may face competition from Liverpool in their pursuit of the Dutchman.
The Saints may have to alter their position on the centre-back after the revealed that Van Dijk has submitted a formal transfer request in an attempt to force a move away from the south coast. Van Dijk has expressed his desire to compete in European football after Southampton failed to qualify for the Europa League last season.
Chelsea may have issues of their own to consider though, as the quote Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone appearing to hint that the Spanish club may not make a move for striker Diego Costa. The manager said:
“I don’t want to comment too much. The fact is he is still with Chelsea. The most important thing to me is the work of my club in general, not only in training. I have to work with what I have. When I found there was no other possibility to get new players at the club I accepted it. Maybe I could improve the quality, but for the moment with this team I can work very well and I’m satisfied with that.”
That could leave Chelsea footing the bill for the Spaniard, who has his heart set on a return to the Spanish capital. His wages would not be cheap for the Blues to pay and they will be hoping to find a potential suitor as soon as possible with Costa unlikely to play for the club again.