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What's the story?
Antonio Conte's discontentment with Chelsea's top brass for the lack of verve in the transfer market is no secret. Having conceded that luring Alex Sandro away from Juventus seems unlikely, Chelsea have now switched their focus to Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspur and are willing to make a £40m bid for the left-back, according to The Sun.
Conte has identified Ryan Bertrand of Southampton as a backup option.
In case you didn't know
Danny Rose has not played since January after picking up a knee injury in January. He underwent surgery in May and is expected to be back in action by the end of August.
Chelsea's interest in Danny Rose is no novel revelation. They had tried to sign him 2 years ago but the relationship between the clubs, at the time, was described as 'poisonous'.
Manchester United are also interested in the 27-year-old and it looks like Mourinho and Conte will go head-to-head once again as has been the custom this summer.
The heart of the matter
Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses have been crucial to Chelsea's dominance in the past season. But now that they're back in the Champions League, getting a left back will serve two purposes as far as Conte is concerned.
Primarily, it will bolster their ranks and enhance the squad depth. Fatigue will prove to not be an impediment if they have reliable players to fall back upon. Secondarily, Conte wants to provide competition to Alonso and Moses lest they become too complacent.
Spurs have already sold one of their fullbacks, Kyle Walker, to City for £50m. They remain adamant that none of their other players are for sale. Kieran Tripper, yet another Spurs fullback limped off from training after picking up an ankle injury and is likely to miss out on the start of the season. This will further complicate any Danny Rose negotiations.
Tottenham's rigid wage structure has often proved to expedite the departure of players from their ranks. At Chelsea, Danny Rose could get twice the wage he gets at Spurs and it will be difficult for any player to rebuff such an offer.
Pochettino could yet be tempted with a £40m offer but it is unlikely that Spurs will let go of yet another fullback as they look consciously inactive in the summer and are trying to keep their existing system in tact.
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Author's take
Danny Rose is a strong presence on the left flank. He is a strong tackler and loves to run at defenders with the ball at his feet. Chelsea will have to face stiff competition from the Red Devils in the race to sign the Englishman. With Luke Shaw injured and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson out on loan, Jose Mourinho will be ready to run the whole nine yards to get reinforcements.
But it will only come to that if Spurs are willing to sell at all.
