Chelsea prepare £30m swoop as Antonio Conte eyes long-term defensive solution

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Chelsea are reportedly set to return for Hoffenheim defender Niklas Sule and will launch a £30m in the summer to add another solid option in defence.

As per The Daily Mail, the Blues offered £20m for the German international this past summer but saw their advances rejected by the Bundesliga outfit.

While Antonio Conte switched his attention to David Luiz instead, it’s claimed in the report that the Italian tactician will up his offer for Sule next summer in a bid to finally prise him away from his homeland.

It’s added that technical director Michael Emenalo has advised the Chelsea boss that the towering defender is the ideal man for the backline, with scouts from the club closely monitoring his progress so far this season.

The 21-year-old evidently has attributes that would make him well suited to the Premier League with his strength and pace undoubtedly singling him out as a top talent.

With John Terry edging ever closer to retirement and with Branislav Ivanovic unlikely to get a new contract at the end of the season, Chelsea are in need of rebuilding their backline.

Conte has enjoyed great success with a three-man defence with Cesar Azpilicueta, Luiz and Gary Cahill making those positions their own, while the likes of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen will likely hope that they have a future at Stamford Bridge.

However, it appears as though Sule will be the main transfer target next summer, as the youngster looks to continue his own development and join a top Premier League club to continue his progression into one of Europe’s leading centre-halves.

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