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Antonio Conte Looking To Drive Van Dijk To Chelsea

With the news that John Terry is to leave Chelsea at the end of the season it means that the centre back department at Stamford Bridge will be a man lighter going into the Summer. The departure of the former England captain comes as no real great surprise due to his minimised minutes under Antonio Conte during this campaign.

But Chelsea boss Conte has been constantly looking at new personnel at the heart of the defence and you would imagine that although this is a team that is very close to doing the double, the former Juventus and Italy boss will look to make sure that the quality of squad improves should they have a defence of the Premier League to look forward to next season.

One man that is believed to be at the top of the Italian’s shopping list is that of Virgil Van Dijk. The Southampton defender is currently going through a prolonged spell of absence due to an injury picked up in the New Year and many feel that he has already played his last football for the South Coast club.

The 25 year old has picked up a long list of admirers thanks to his performances over the last couple of seasons for Southampton and Claude Puel is going to have a busy off season having to listen to bids to prize the former Celtic defender away from the St Mary’s

With the exception of perhaps Tottenham, Van Dijk would be a welcome addition to any of the top 6 maybe even top 7 what with Van Dijk’s previous links with Ronald Koeman. Therefore it looks a case of not when Van Dijk leaves but who he ends up moving to.

And with the Stamford Bridge outfit losing not only John Terry in a few weeks time but also the departures of Jon Obi Mikel and Branislav Ivanovic in January then this is an area that will certainly looked to be reinforced during the close season.

If they are going to acquire Van Dijk’s services this Summer then he is not going to come cheaply. With so many potential suitors the last thing Chelsea want to do is get involved in a bidding war, but if it does come to that then they will arguably have the deepest pockets to see off any of their rivals.

With Conte targeting Van Dijk it shows that he is not prepared to rest on his laurels after an impressive debut season in charge of the West London outfit. Should Chelsea go on to win the title then there will be a handful teams looking to knock Chelsea off their perch next time around.

And it’s because of that Chelsea can not afford to stand still. With the money being reported as available for Conte to spend once the transfer window re-opens then you would imagine that not to be the case, but with the intention of signing players such as the calibre of Virgil Van Dijk then the rest of the Premier League should be on notice that Chelsea will be ready to go again.

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