Reports: Chelsea to spend £250 million on four players this window

What's the story?

Chelsea, and manager Antonio Conte, are allegedly digging deep into their coffers this summer window, with the team expected to shell out over £250 million over the coming weeks, as reported by ESPN. Having successfully completed the high profile purchase of striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for a steep price of around £71 million including add-ons, the club's hierarchy can now turn their attention to other players this transfer window.

The Blues have successfully offloaded the duo of defender Nathan Ake and keeper Begovic to Bournemouth as well as winger Juan Cuadrado to Juventus and are expected to get rid of striker Diego Costa in the coming weeks. The Italian manager will certainly be keen on plugging the holes left behind by these departures.

In case you didn't know...

There have been several rumors emerging from England since the start of the transfer window that stated that manager Antonio Conte has been furious with the Chelsea board for their transfer inactivity, even expressing his desire to leave at one point. The purchases of Morata, midfielder Bakayoko from Monaco and defender Antonio Rudiger from Roma have managed to silence the conjecture and pacify the manager.

Latest reports, however, suggest that there is plenty of money yet to be spent by the defending champions, as Chelsea have decided to back their manager with a mammoth summer budget of £250 million.

The heart of the matter

Conte could very well match, if not surpass his rival team Manchester City's summer expenditure, with the Italian manager targeting four new players before the start of his team's title defense. The targets are understood to be left-back Alex Sandro from Juventus, winger Antonio Candreva from Inter Milan, striker Fernando Llorente from Swansea and defender Virgil van Dijk from Southampton.

Reports suggest that Sandro is the top most priority and that Chelsea are highly optimistic about securing the services of the 26-year-old, while Llorente is considered an able replacement in the striking department. The Blues are also understood to have stepped up their pursuits of Van Dijk and Candreva.

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Author's take

The reported budget of £250 million, if spent wisely, can make Chelsea an even more formidable force as well as the side to beat in England and Europe. The purchases of these four players may not raise eyebrows immediately, but will undoubtedly influence Chelsea's season for the better.