Chelsea round-up: Signing hoped for by Sunday; £30m for midfielder; Candreva hope

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Chelsea could be set to add a fifth major signing of the summer before Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Arsenal, say the Telegraph. In what will be a replay of last season’s FA Cup final, it could be a much changed Chelsea line-up that faces the Gunners at Wembley this weekend.

Whilst the reports do not indicate who that player will be, Antonio Conte will be buoyed by any addition that will add and strength and depth. Fans will just be hoping that the club’s reported confidence in completing a deal in time for the season opener has not been misplaced.

One option may be Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater. The Sun believe that the Blues have told the Foxes that they are prepared to pay anything up to £30 million for N’Golo Kante’s former team-mate, but not a penny more. It is yet to be seen if that will prove sufficient to tempt Craig Shakespeare into selling.

If not, the club may turn to Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The England international and Drinkwater both boast homegrown status, making them priorities this summer given the exits of John Terry, Nathan Ake, Asmir Begovic and Nathaniel Chalobah. In the final year of his contract, there may be hope that Chelsea could negotiate a lower price for Oxlade-Chamberlain than the £30 million set aside for Drinkwater.

A more likely option to be an imminent signing is Antonio Candreva, particularly as the Mirror claim that Inter Milan are on the look out for a replacement for the 30-year-old winger. If found, it could greatly speed up a move to Chelsea.

Given the reluctance of both Leicester and Arsenal to sell, whilst Inter may be more open to doing so if they are considering replacements, the Italian seems the most obvious candidate to have joined by the end of the week.