Conte to land Alex Sandro

ANTONIO CONTE is reportedly set to land Alex Sandro with a £61million bid.

The Chelsea boss wants FOUR more signings and is prepared to pay a world-record fee for a defender to land the Juventus ace. The Blues have already had at least one bid rejected by the Italian champions this summer.

But, according the The Times, Conte is now poised for a raid on his former club which would see the Brazilian international finally heading for Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea paid £23m last summer to land Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina, with the Spaniard going on to become one of the stars of their title-winning season.

Conte wants competition for places as Blues return to the Champions League after a season away.

He has signed £65m Real Madrid star Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco for £40m, Antonio Rudiger in a £34.2m deal from Roma and Willy Caballero on a free.

He is considering a £50m swoop for English duo Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to bolster his midfield ranks. And Alonso says he’s not prepared to give up his left-back berth without a fight.

Ahead of Blues’ friendly with Inter Milan in Singapore on Saturday, he said: “This is Chelsea.

“We play in four competitions this year, so many games and competition can only be good for me and for the team, that’s it.

“I will just keep training, keep improving, keep doing well for the team and keep fighting.”

Alonso struggled at Bolton earlier in his career and also had a brief spell at Sunderland where he played 16 times on loan from Fiorentina.

When Conte swooped for him last year he was not expected to be one of the key players in a title triumph. He said: “I had happy memories of England before, definitely.

“I had too many injuries and couldn’t play regularly when I was at Bolton but I grew so much as a player.

“Not just on the pitch, also as a person. Also very good memories from Sunderland.

“It was a good six months from arriving at Christmas when the team was bottom of the table to do a great six months and play in the final of the League Cup.

“They are always good memories and I wanted to come back to the Premier League as it is the best league in the world and I’m very happy to play for Chelsea now.” Sandro could take time to get used to Conte’s system, while Conte knows Alonso has slotted into it perfectly.

He said: “I wasn’t straight into the team. I had some weeks of training to get used to the way the manager wanted to play.

“It is not only Chelsea, it’s an old Italian system that worked very well last year. “It’s normal that other teams are trying to play like this depending on the players you have.

“It’s good to play in different ways. We are working on new things this year to improve as a team. That’s one of the main things for us.

“I’m happy for last season but this season has to be better.

“I don’t remember about last season already – it’s forgotten."

From The Sun