Chelsea To Rival Liverpool For van Dijk As Conte Plots £150m Triple Swoop

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea are ready to splash some serious cash….

Chelsea are ready to rival Liverpool for the signature of Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk as boss Antonio Conte plots a £150m triple swoop, according to the Mirror.

Conte has already splashed almost £130m on Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Willy Caballero but it seems the Blues manager is keen to sign at least three more players before the end of the window.

The Mirror claim Chelsea chiefs have made another £150m available to spend and Conte has made van Dijk one of his prime targets along with Juventus left-back Alex Sandro and Inter Milan winger Antonio Candreva.

Van Dijk’s future at Southampton is in serious doubt as he’s been left out of their pre-season training camp squad which left for France yesterday after informing the club he wants to leave this summer.

Liverpool have been strongly linked with the Dutch international and the Express reported on Monday that the Reds were preparing a £60m offer with van Dijk believed to be desperate to join the Anfield outfit.

Jurgen Klopp knows he needs to add a dominant centre-back to his side if the Merseysiders are to be considered genuine title challengers this season and van Dijk would be a superb addition to their squad.

However, it looks like Liverpool may now face some stiff competition as the Mirror claim Chelsea are now back in the running to sign the 25-year-old and could test Southampton’s resolve with an offer of their own.

Conte is also looking to add competition for Marcos Alonso in the left wing-back position and the newspaper says he is targetting Sandro with Juventus demanding £60m for his signature this summer.

The Brazilian international has been hugely impressive since moving to Italy from Porto two years ago and the 26-year-old would be another excellent signing if Chelsea could pull it off.

According to the Mirror, the third player on Conte’s radar is Candreva and the Blues are hoping to lure the Italian international away from the San Siro in a £30m deal.

The 30-year-old only joined Inter from Lazio last summer but he could be tempted by a switch to Stamford Bridge after the Serie A giants missed out on European football last season.

Candreva is predominantly a right winger but he’s capable of playing in the right wing-back role or in central midfield so his versatility will be seen as a useful asset by Conte.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news | Liverpool transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how many of these players Chelsea manage to sign but it looks like it’s going to be a busy few weeks in west London and the defending champions will have a formidable squad if Conte lands all of his targets.