Antonio Conte has made it clear that he wants more signings due to his squad looking a little light at present, and the Italian looks set to move for Southampton full-back Cedric Soares.
In a report from Jason Burt from The Telegraph which explains that Chelsea are looking for a further three signings to go along with the captures of Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata, it states that the club are keen on Cedric, who they see as a perfect fit to play as a right-sided wing-back in Conte's system.
Image: PA
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The 25-year old joined Southampton from Sporting in 2015 and has impressed with a series of solid displays on the right side of defence. He was part of the Saints side that reached the EFL Cup final under Claude Puel last season and featured for the Portugal national team as they won the Euros in 2016, as well as being the first-choice right-back for Fernando Santos at the recent Confederations Cup in Russia.
His fine form for club and country has attracted interest from the likes of Manchester City, Juventus and Barcelona, and now Chelsea are keen.
With Champions League football back on the agenda at Stamford Bridge this season, the club want that all-important squad depth to compete on all fronts, and see Cedric as someone who could tussle it out with Victor Moses for the right wing-back berth.
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The likes of PSG's Serge Aurier, Valencia's Joao Cancelo, Inter's Andrea Candreva and Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all targets capable of playing up and down the right flank, but Cedric, a £4.7 million signing for Saints a couple of years back, would appear to be the cheapest option.
As per The Telegraph, and contrary to some reports in Italy, Chelsea are yet to table an official bid, but are thought to see Cedric as worthy of a fee somewhere in between £15-20 million.
Chelsea fans, would you welcome Cedric's arrival?
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Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Chelsea, Southampton, Premier League
