Chelsea’s new boss is Antonio Conte is moving quickly to make sure that he has his squad ready before the Blues begin their campaign on August 13th. Conte can’t afford another year of mediocrity from his players and needs to get them firing on all cylinders as quickly as possible. Although most of the blame was put on the attacking unit, it shouldn’t be overlooked that most of the senior Chelsea defenders struggled to provide any solidity to the team last season and were exploited at will by opposite teams attackers. Therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Italian national team coach is looking to shore up the back line to plug the holes that were left last year.
One of Conte prime target this summer is the 25-year-old Inter Milan defender Juan Jesus. It is being reported that the two clubs have opened talks regarding the player and a fee of around £8 million is being demanded by the Italian club to allow the player to leave for Stamford Bridge. Earlier Conte was interested in bring the German international Antonio Rudiger to London but the Roma stalwart tore his ACL muscle on international duty that ruled him out for six months. Which has left Chelsea, urgently searching for a replacement target and the management has zeroed down on Jesus for right now.
Juan Jesus struggled to get much playing at Inter last season as manager Roberto Mancini, preferred the central pairing of Miranda and Jeison Murillo. With the Italian club going through a financial crunch currently, a bid of around £10 million should be enough to prise away the defender this summer. Jesus is highly rated in the Italian league, even after going through a slight slump last season, he has managed to catch the attention of the new Chelsea boss, who has been a huge admirer of Brazilian from his time at Juventus. The Azzurri manager is reportedly planning a defense line which can shift from a back four to a back three according to the game situation and Jesus would fit the bill perfectly, as he is capable of playing at centre-half or left-back.
Juan Jesus arrived in Italy from Internacional in Brazil in 2012. At once touted as the next Thiago Silva, Jesus has gone on to largely disappoint in Serie A. His tackling abilities are excellent and is very much capable of keeping possession in tight situation. However the Brazilian is quite weak in the air, something which can easily exploited by the more robust strikers in the Premier League. Given the disastrous season Chelsea had at the back last year, they will be sensible in going with a proven centre-back who can hold his ground in the physically demanding league. The Italian manager should to get someone who understands the pace and physicality of the Premier League and can quickly settle into this Chelsea squad.