Chelsea round-up: Favourites for Madrid’s James Rodriguez; Alvaro Morata prefers Milan move; Antonio Conte row over Diego Costa

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As we approach the start of the 2017 summer transfer window, The Boot Room rounds-up the key Chelsea news dominating Wednesday’s back-pages. 

Speaking on Spanish television show El Chiringuito de Jugones, journalist Eduardo Inda claimed that the Blues have leapfrogged Premier League rivals Manchester United in the race to secure the services of playmaker James Rodriguez.

The Real Madrid number ten has seen his game time limited at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, leading to obvious frustration, and his subsequent demands for a move away from the Spanish capital outfit.

The aforementioned quotes have been reported by Diario Madridista (okdiario.com) and can be heard in the video below.

It is hard to imagine where the ex-Monaco star would fit into Antonio Conte’s current system, but a player of his immense quality would undoubtedly add talent to an already strong squad as the side prepare for the additional challenge of the Champions League next season.

However, it could now be unlikely that he will be joined by current team-mate Alvaro Morata, as Spanish newspaper Marca believe that the striker could instead move to AC Milan as the Serie A side prepare to splash the cash to challenge Juventus at the top of the Italian league.

Morata, who only left the Juventus Stadium last summer for Madrid, worked with Antonio Conte in Turin and was linked with a reunion with his former manager. With Romelu Lukaku also rumoured to be a target, it may not be a huge blow for Conte, but it certainly limits his options if Morata does opt for a return to Italy.

That may explain why Antonio Conte is so desperate to retain Morata’s international team-mate Diego Costa, with The Sun stating that the Italian has been involved in heated debate with club bosses over the forward’s future as they wish to cash in on the ex-Atletico Madrid star amid interest from China.

Conte on the other hand, feels that Costa is vital to the team’s style of play and would struggle to replace the powerful and feisty striker and is fighting hard to ensure that he retains his top scorer ahead of a Premier League title defence in the 2017/18 campaign.

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