Conte eyeing Golovin as he warns players: Don’t relax

CHELSEA are eying 20- year- old Russian attacking midfielder Aleksandr Golovin to supplement their title-winning squad.

Manager Antonio Conte and sporting director Michael Emenalo are discussing a number of high-profile targets such as Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk, Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci and Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko.

But initial enquiries have also been made for the CSKA Moscow midfielder and Russian international Golovin and, costing about £20 million, he would represent value for money and an investment in the future.

Conte has previously said that the club will need to invest to cope with the added challenge of playing in the Champions League next season — and he has also made it clear to the current squad that he will not accept them resting on their laurels after their title win.

Given that Chelsea finished 10th the season after winning the Premier League in 2015, Conte has emphasised again to his players that they can enjoy today’s title celebrations at Stamford Bridge and an end-of-season party next Sunday after the FA Cup final — but that they cannot relax. ‘I hate this word “relax”,’ said Conte. ‘I prefer to tell you to use this word ‘enjoy’ instead. Enjoy your achievement.

‘We had a path, a very difficult path, this season so it’s important to enjoy the win with the players, the club and the fans. We worked very hard. But relax? No. I want people who stay, every day, concentrated and preparing for a new win.

‘We must have a winning mentality. If you have the winning mentality, you want to continue to win every season. It’s not easy because, above all in England, there are many teams who want to do the same things.

‘When you have the winning mentality and you want to win every game, if there is someone that is happy to see his past, then he’s not a winner. He’s a loser. The past is beautiful if you won in your past. But in the present and the future, it’s not important if you are a winner.’

Conte had promised to turn Chelsea’s flickering flame into a blazing inferno when he arrived last July. Reminded of that last week, he said: ‘We started to light the fire. This is very important. If you want to have a good season, you must have this fire in your soul, your heart and your head.’