Chelsea round-up: Drinkwater move possible; Morata could miss out; Milan want permanent deal for striker

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Having completed the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for £40 million, the Daily Mail believe that Antonio Conte and Chelsea could turn to Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater as a potential replacement. The move would see him reunited with N’Golo Kante in the middle of the park.

The 27-year-old would also boost the club’s homegrown talent, with other options believed to be Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Everton’s Ross Barkley. That shows a clear strategy for the Blues as they look to recruit English talent to fill gaps in the squad this summer.

However, star summer signing Alvaro Morata may not start in this weekend’s Community Shield clash against Arsenal, according to the Independent. Having started only one pre-season game so far this summer since signing from Real Madrid, his fitness levels are not yet up to scratch in Antonio Conte’s opinion.

Morata set up Michy Batshuayi to score against Bayern Munich on his debut as a substitute but is yet to find the back of the net in Chelsea colours. Having had his training regime disrupted to travel from the US to London to complete a move and then to join the squad in Singapore, it is not a surprise if he is some way behind his team-mates in terms of fitness.

He is still expected to replace Diego Costa as the main man up-front at Stamford Bridge though. As Chelsea continue to struggle to shift their top scorer from 2016/17, the Standard say that AC Milan will only consider signing him on a permanent deal.

That news comes as talks with Atletico Madrid remain far from completing a deal, with some suggesting that Costa could head to Milan on loan before returning to Madrid as Diego Simeone’s side are under a transfer ban until January. Now that possibility appears to have been ruled out.