Having struggled all summer to sign a new centre-back and having failed in their attempts to bring Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, Chelsea are now looking to Russia to bolster their defence.
According to Sovsport in Russia, Antonio Conte wants to now bring Ezequiel Garay from Zenit St Petersburg to Stamford Bridge.
The Russian website claim that representatives from the club have already travelled to Russia for talks about a potential deal and to thrash out personal terms with the player.
The 29-year-old defender has been in Russia since 2014 when he signed from Benfica for £5m after some extensive links with a move to the Premier League.
The Argentina international established himself as a starter under both André Villas-Boas and now Mircea Lucescu.
There’s no mention of a fee, but with three years left on his contract and an important squad role, it probably won’t be a bargain signing.
Considering Zenit are currently negotiating with Anderlecht about potentially selling Nicolas Lombaerts, a Garay sale might not be top of their list, but if Chelsea’s offer is too good to turn down, well, money talks…
