Chelsea Could Miss Out On Conte’s Number 1 Defensive Target

Chelsea Could Miss Out On Conte’s Number 1 Defensive Target

As we reported last week Antonio Conte is very keen to bolster his defence and reportedly has identified the 21 year old German international starlet Niklas Sule from Hoffenheim as his preferred choice to strengthen his backline not only for this season but for many seasons to come. The young German is a commanding presence in the heart of the defence and helped Germany reach the gold medal game at the Olympics in Rio this past summer. Conte wanted to sign him this winter to provide back-up for David Luiz who is playing a lot of games as John Terry continues to be plagued by pesky injuries and Kurt Zouma is still not back from his serious leg injury.

Antonio Conte was reportedly ready to table a £30 million bid to secure the young German this winter after failing to get his man last summer when he tried and failed to land the impressive youngster. Now as The Sun are reporting Chelsea are to be disappointed a second time as German giants Bayern Munich have moved quickly to land the highly coveted defender with Carlo Ancelotti apparently agreeing a deal to buy the defender who will move to Munich’s Allianz Arena next summer for an undisclosed fee.

According to a report in the newspaper edition of the German publication Bild, Bayern have also secured Hoffenheim’s Sebastian Rudy on a free transfer as well. So it seems the Niklas Sule transfer may have been part of a bigger deal between the two German sides but until an official announcement is made there may still be a chance for Chelsea to convince Sule to join them.

Where this leaves Chelsea is uncertain as they do seem keen on adding some defensive help given the injuries they already have and if the impressive David Luiz was to get injured Chelsea could all of a sudden be looking rather thin at the back. However, knowing Antonio Conte he likely already has other targets in mind and if his performance in the summer transfer window was anything to go by Chelsea fans should feel relatively confident that their manager will get the players in which he needs to maintain Chelsea’s title challenge.