Chelsea: £30m deal for defender close; Belgian midfield duo linked; Batshuayi latest

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With Antonio Conte’s European Championships with Italy coming to an end in the quarter-finals – exiting on penalties to Germany – the Italian is now starting his reign at Chelsea. Being solely focused on The Blues enables them to plan ahead to ensure that next season Chelsea are back in the title race, or the top four at the very least. With this planning comes transfer activity, of which the papers have much to speculate about.

Chelsea’s first task has been to remove some of the unsuccessful additions of their disappointing campaign last season. Marco Amelia, brought in as a backup keeper, has left without an appearance to his name while both Radamel Falcao and Alexandre Pato’s uninspiring loan spells have ended, The Blues do hold the right to make Pato’s loan deal permanent – according to the Brazilian’s agent – however, a deal seems unlikely.

Loic Remy, another player who had a lacklustre campaign, is reportedly involved in a £15m deal to the Chinese Super League. Both Shanghai Shenhua and newly-promoted side Hebei China Fortune have been linked with a move for the French International.

With Remy exiting the club, Chelsea would be in the market for another striker to compete with fiery Spaniard Diego Costa. Recently, it has been reported that Michy Batshuayi is set to join Chelsea after writing an open letter to Marseille fans confirming his departure. Sky Sports also suggested the Belgian international has already passed his medical ahead of signing for The Blues.

The Belgian would bring a strong goalscoring presence as he scored 25 goals for struggling Marseille last season. His impact in the South of France is similar to his compatriot’s, Romelu Lukaku, with Everton this season. Both played in teams underperforming yet managed to score plentiful of goals.

Michy Batshuayi has also been likened to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba for his natural finishing instincts, raw power and strength as well as an impressive turn of pace. It remains to be seen how the Belgian would be utilised in Conte’s chosen system but after employing the 3-5-2 formation so expertly with Italy at the Euros, Batshuayi could partner Diego Costa up front in what could become a formidable strike partnership.

Another Belgian has also been strongly linked with The Blues recently. Roma’s Radja Nainggolan has been eyed as the perfect midfielder to fulfil Conte’s needs in his tactical system. The Belgian has impressed during Euro 2016 having scored a stunning goal in the 3-1 defeat to Wales. The Daily Mail have reported that Chelsea have had three bids rejected by the Italian club, the highest being as much as £33million.

According to the newspaper, Chelsea may switch to the £30million rated Alex Witsel who has also shown his quality over the course of the Euros. However, the Blues would face competition from Ronald Koeman’s Everton for Witsel’s signature. Both Belgians would bring a similar calibre of strength and work ethic to the potential three-man midfield in Conte’s 3-5-2 system.

The ever-impressive N’Golo Kante is also rumoured to have an affinity to Conte’s intricate tactics and has suggested he’d prefer a move to The Blues ahead of joining Arsenal and Manchester United, according to The Telegraph. After such an impressive season with Leicester, he would come at some cost, but he would undoubtedly be an excellent addition in the centre of the park.

A new defensive addition in Kalidou Koulibaly may provide the depth to enable The Blues to play three centre-backs next season as The Independent have reported a £30million deal for the Napoli defender. Koulibaly has an immense presence and is likely to join Chelsea as contract issue have supposedly caused tension between the player and his club.

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