Chelsea plan quadruple raid to push spending past £250m

Chelsea are actively pursuing deal for Juventus' Alex Sandro, Southampton's Virgil Van Dijk, Lazio's Antonio Candreva and Swansea's Fernando Llorente.

'The Blues' have already spent £140m on Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata this summer but are hoping to further strengthen as they look to defend their Premier League title.

The club have been pursuing left-back Sandro for most of the summer, with the Brazilian valued by his club at around £60m. Llorente is seen as an ideal option to rotate with new signing Alvaro Morata at Stamford Bridge, Conte is well aware of his abilities, having worked with the player at Juventus, though the Spaniard is likely to miss the start of the season due to a broken arm sustained on a family cycling holiday.

Candreva would bring versatility to the Londoners, but his current employers Lazio are not keen on selling the player this summer. Inter Milan are also understood to have enquired about the Italy international and have been quoted £30m. Meanwhile Van Dijk is expected to leave Southampton this summer and has reportedly been training on his own in recent days. The Dutchman was expected to move to Liverpool this summer, however the 'Reds' have been forced to end their interest after being accused of making an 'illegal approach' for the player. Chelsea are no longer desperate for another defender following the arrival of Antonio Rudiger but they do maintain a serious interest and could be tempted to make a move at the right price. The South coast side are expected to demand around £60m for the former Celtic man.

All in all, these moves would be enough to push Chelsea past Manchester City's total spend of £230m so far this summer and put them out in front as the biggest spenders in world football. But, do Chelsea really need all these players?