It would be difficult to count how many players from Italy have been linked to Chelsea since Antonio Conte took charge of the club at the start of the season.
Tutto Mercato Web are responsible for a lot of them, and they’ve now claimed the club sent scouts to watch Roma playing Lazio in the Italian Cup this week.
According to the website, the Chelsea scouts already knew who they would be keeping an eye on. Defender Antonio Rudiger from Roma and the midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio.
Rudiger was much linked to Chelsea in the last summer, when the Blues were after a central defender and ended up signing David Luiz from PSG. After a serious knee injury, the player has recovered well and seems to be a less risky signing this time.
Currently in his second season for Lazio,Milinkovic-Savic hasn’t been strongly linked to the Premier League. Signed for €9m from Genk, he’s another one wouldn’t leave for such a low price, Chelsea would likely have to pay a lot more now.
Now’s the time which sees clubs make their long lists of targets a little shorter, and scouting becomes more serious. Whilst TMW may well be guessing at Chelsea’s target, it’s likely their scouting claim is correct, as Antonio Conte starts to place the first building blocks of summer transfers.
