Chelsea Boss Ready To Splash £120m On Double Summer Swoop

Managers are now making plans for the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea are eyeing a £120m double swoop….

Antonio Conte is keen to strengthen this summer with the Chelsea boss eyeing a £120m double swoop for Everton striker Romelu Lukaku and Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, according to the Mirror.

Conte is well on course to winning the double in his first season in England with Chelsea four points clear at the top of the league and through to the final of the FA Cup where they’ll meet Arsenal next month.

However, despite the success so far this campaign, the Italian coach says the club are still in a period of ‘transition’ and Conte has expressed his desire to further strengthen the squad this summer.

The west Londoners lost Oscar, Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel in January, skipper John Terry is set to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season while there are on-going doubts over the future of Diego Costa.

It means Chelsea are going to be busy in the summer market and Conte is keen to bring in top quality players to replace those who’ve left the club. He’s quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“We are in a period of transition. In this season, we have lost Ivanovic, Mikel and next season we lose John Terry.

“We are talking about players who wrote the history of this club. They won a lot. Now we have to find the right substitutes for these players and then work to put these players at the same level.”

The Mirror claim that Conte is now urging the clubs hierarchy to spend big this summer with the Chelsea boss identifying Lukaku and van Dijk as his two prime transfer targets.

Lukaku is enjoying a superb season with Everton having scored 25 goals in all competitions so far and the Telegraph reported last week that the Toffees have slapped a £100m price-tag on his head amid interest from Chelsea and Man Utd.

I doubt the Merseysiders will end up getting that much for the Belgian international but Lukaku reportedly favours a move back to London so a return to Stamford Bridge could be on the cards this summer.

van Dijk has also been enjoying a superb season with Southampton and has been attracting interest from several top flight clubs ahead of a potential move away from St Marys this summer.

However, the Mirror suggest that the Dutch international is Conte’s number one target to replace Terry with the Blues boss ready to spend around £120m on a double swoop for van Dijk and Lukaku.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news

It would be a great piece of business for the champions-elect if they could pull it off as they’d be getting two Premier League proven players who are coming in to their prime years, so these potential deals are certainly worth keeping a close eye on over the coming months.