Chelsea’s hunt for a new defender could go right down to the wire this summer with Napoli resisting offers for Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Blues are in the market for a centre-half this summer with John Terry and Gary Cahill their only two fully fit senior players to fill the position at the start of the season.
Big things remain expected from Kurt Zouma but the Frenchman is fighting his way back from a horrendous knee injury which saw him miss the second half of last term.
Koulibaly has emerged as the leading contender for the role of Terry’s long-term replacement at Stamford Bridge, although there have been several candidates.
Chelsea begin their Premier League fixtures on Monday night with the visit of West Ham but still have several weeks left to sign players before the transfer window shuts on August 31.
Let’s take a look at who remains in Antonio Conte’s sights and who has fallen by the wayside as Roman Abramovich prepares to get his chequebook out again.
The Koulibaly saga
Koulibaly remains Chelsea No 1 choice this summer and they have already seen a bid worth a reported £42million turned down for the Senegal international.
The 25-year-old has told his club he wants to leave the Serie A club to join the Blues but Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is a notoriously stubborn negotiator.
It is believed that Napoli are chasing Nikola Maksimovic, once linked with Chelsea, to bolster their defensive ranks and would be more willing to sell Koulibaly should they get their man.
Chelsea remain confident of signing Koulibaly before the closure of the window but are lining up a few other options in case De Laurentiis refuses to part with the player.
Backup options
Sunderland's Lamine Kone and Benfica's Victor Lindelof have also now been added to Conte’s shopping list this summer.
Chelsea will turn to the defensive pair if a deal for Koulibaly proves impossible this summer.
Lindelof made 30 appearances for Benfica last season and was part of the Sweden squad at Euro 2016 as the 22-year-old continues to enhance his reputation.
However, Benfica are said to be plotting contract talks with the defender in an attempt to ward off increasing interest in the rising star.
Kone appears a more likely option but Chelsea are facing competition from Everton for the Ivorian as the Toffees look to spend the money generated from John Stones’ departure.
Kone is under contract at the Stadium of Light until 2020.
Out of the picture
Chelsea have been searching for Terry’s replacement for some time now and Stones was the man earmarked for the job last summer by Jose Mourinho.
However, negotiations turned sour between the two clubs and the Englishman stayed on for another year at Goodison before sealing his mega-money move to City this week.
Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi was touted as a potential option earlier in the window but the German now looks destined to join Arsenal.
Manager Pako Ayestarán left Mustafi out of his most recent squad to fuel speculation the Euro 2016 star is about to leave the La Liga outfit.
Roma’s Greek international defender Kostas Manolas had been high on Conte’s hitlist earlier this summer but the Stadio Olimpico club have proven tough to deal with.
Chelsea had sought a deal for their star midfield enforcer Radja Nainggolan but that move never materialised despite weeks of talks between the two sides.
Leonardo Bonucci was also on the radar but Juventus have no need to sell their talisman.
