Chelsea round-up: Chase still on for £60m defender; Conte confirms interest in Man City star; captaincy announced

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Chelsea remain interested in Juventus left-back Alex Sandro, the Express quote Sky Sports journalist Darmesh Sheth as revealing. He says that the Blues are still trying to pull off a move for the Brazilian, but are aware that it will take a bid of at least £60 million if there is to be any chance of a deal.

Sandro has been linked with the Blues throughout the summer but no deal has yet been forthcoming. The club are yet to add to their squad in the wing-back positions, which are believed to be one of Antonio Conte’s top priorities for additions in the current transfer window.

One option that was considered was then Tottenham star Kyle Walker, Antonio Conte has confirmed. Speaking after the club’s pre-season defeat to Bayern Munich, and quoted by Metro, he revealed that the Blues made moves to bring the England international to Stamford Bridge:

“If you want Walker, you know that Walker is expensive. We tried to buy Walker. Honestly, I think now every single player is expensive… It is very difficult in the transfer market for the teams that need to improve their squads.”

Instead, Walker completed a £50 million move to Manchester City. There, he will team up with Pep Guardiola and try to put a serious dent in Chelsea’s chances of retaining their Premier League title in 2017/18.

The club have also officially announced their new captain and vice-captain for that challenge. Gary Cahill has been named captain and will be deputised by Cesar Azpilicueta as vice-captain. Cahill told the official club website that it was one of the proudest moments of his career, saying:

“It’s definitely a proud moment in my career. I’ve had some good moments up until now and this certainly ranks very highly. To be captain of such a huge club like Chelsea is a great personal achievement… I was lucky to have the armband for quite a long time last year but obviously John Terry was still club captain and a huge figure here, but I gained a lot of experience from that and hopefully I can continue in the same vein this season.”

David Luiz was also believed to be a contender, but Antonio Conte has opted for the experienced and reliable Cesar Azpilicueta as his vice-captain. After both Cahill and the Spaniard wore the armband in John Terry’s absence last season, it comes as no surprise.