Chelsea are reportedly set to splash out £200m in the final week or so of the summer transfer window, with Antonio Conte hopeful of signing five players.
After suffering defeat in their Premier League season opener last weekend at home to Burnley, Chelsea travel to Wembley on Sunday to take on Tottenham.
Tension is building on and off the pitch for Conte, as he hopes to significantly bolster his squad before the deadline passes, despite having already signed Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata this summer.
According to The Express, there is still £200m or so to be spent by the Premier League champions, and Conte has his eyes of five targets in particular, including Southampton trio Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares.
It’s claimed that the three Saints players could cost around £150m, but it’s difficult to see them selling three quarters of their back four so late in the window with no real opportunity to rebuild their defence.
Nevertheless, mounting pressure from Chelsea may force them to consider their options give the figures on the table, while Leicester City could face a similar situation.
It’s added that Chelsea are preparing to increase their bid for Danny Drinkwater to £25m after their first offer of £20m was rejected, although that’s said to still be £5m shy of what the Foxes want for the 27-year-old.
While negotiations may well continue there, the Blues still haven’t given up on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as he remains a target given he has less than 12 months remaining on his current Arsenal deal.
Conte is desperate to strengthen his squad while he still can this month, but it remains to be seen which of those targets noted above will arrive at Stamford Bridge as they all seem to be tricky deals to make.