Chelsea out to lure Sanchez and Lukaku
Conte makes strike pair his top summer targets Terry could be offered surprise new contract
Chelsea are lining up bids for Alexis Sánchez and Romelu Lukaku after cooling their interest in Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata.
Arsenal contract rebel Sánchez has emerged as a top target for head coach Antonio Conte, who is preparing his Premier League leaders for the visit of Crystal Palace today, and Chelsea are also at the front of the queue for Lukaku.
Conte met with Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia in Mayfair this week to discuss his plans for the summer, with Sánchez and Lukaku believed to be high on the agenda.
Chelsea looked into the possibility of signing Sánchez before he joined Barcelona from Udinese in 2011 and have followed him since.
They are now one of a number of clubs carefully monitoring the situation of Sánchez, who has yet to sign a new contract at Arsenal.
Should they receive any encouragement, then Chelsea will join Paris St-Germain, Juventus and Chinese clubs in bidding for the Chile international. While there is an acceptance that Arsenal will be reluctant to sell to a Premier League rival, Chelsea believe they can land Sánchez, who has claimed he wants to remain in London. On Sánchez, Conte said: “For sure, he’s a top player. I can say this. But I don’t like to talk about players from other teams because it’s disrespectful for the players of other teams, other clubs and my own players.”
Lukaku has told Everton that he will not sign a new contract, with Goodison Park insiders fearing he has set his heart on a return to Chelsea above all other potential moves.
Chelsea made enquiries about re-signing Lukaku last year, but are optimistic they stand a better chance of landing the Belgian this time around. Although it would cost well over £100 million, they are not dismissing the prospect of signing Sánchez and Lukaku – particularly with Diego Costa’s future still in some doubt.
Chelsea failed with an offer for Morata last summer and had considered making a renewed move for the Spaniard at the end of this season. Morata had told friends that he expected to move to Stamford Bridge, but the situations with Sánchez and Lukaku have seen Chelsea switch their priorities.
Should they fail to land either player, then Chelsea could revisit their interest in Morata, but, at this stage, the 24-year-old has fallen down their list of targets.
The news represents a big blow to Real, who had hoped to use Chelsea’s past interest in Morata as a way of attempting to open negotiations over Eden Hazard.
The offer of Morata will hold no weight with Chelsea, who are desperate to resist any bids for their star player and want to reward his superb form with a new contract. They are confident they can hold on to Hazard, with the 26-year-old and his family settled in their home near the club’s Cobham training ground. Hazard earns £200,000 a week, plus bonuses, but will see his wages rise to closer to £300,000 a week if he signs a new contract.
Conte believes Hazard can realise his career ambitions with Chelsea and said: “Now it’s a great challenge to win the Premier League, more difficult a challenge for a player or a coach than other leagues. I think this league is really top in all aspects. Even if this club calls itself Real Madrid. We are in a great club.
“We have started to build something good for the future, and the ambitions of this club are the same as mine and my players. I’m sure about this, that you would be staying in the right place, in a great club with great ambition.
“Now we are putting the foundations in. If we are able to win the league this season, I think we will be doing an incredible path, an incredible thing, because we are at the moment a club in transition.” Other than working on transfer targets and keeping Hazard, Chelsea have opened talks over the future of captain John Terry, with the prospect of another contract extension not ruled out.
Terry had been expected to leave Chelsea this summer, but talks over the former England international’s future are ongoing with the possibility of him signing an extension that would allow him to continue to work towards gaining his coaching badges.