The Blues have been linked to several defenders this summer but none arrived so far in London. Conte is looking to secure the whole lot and provide backups for all positions especially for the defense where Terry and Cahill are currently the ones expected to carry the team on their backs. The season is long though and there’s no telling if the captain still has it in him to end the season with a presence in every game. Cahill has also missed some important matches during the last couple of years so it is always good to have a quality substitute ready to step in. Up until now Zouma proved more than worthy and even started being a first choice for Mourinho. Unfortunately his horrendous injury stopped his development and is expected to affect his future performance for a little while yet. In fact, if the rumors are true, he might even be sent off to Schalke until he gets back on his feet. If that’s the case, signing a new defender is mandatory.

There might be some options though for Conte to try out. The first and most obvious would be to bring in a center-back like Koulibaly, Alessio Romagnoli or even Mangala. The thing is that the Napoli’s player is way to overrated, Milan will not give up on their most prized possession and City will not send reinforcements to their direct title rivals. There are rumors of Chelsea also chasing Turin’s Nikola Maksimovic but seeing how things are going right now, it is very likely that the Serbian will end up playing for Napoli – Torino’s management admitted the relationship between the club and the player are not the best anymore.

The other option would be to have Ivanovic move to the center in case something happens with Terry and Cahill. In order to do so Conte would need to return Azpilicueta to his righteous place on the right and do something to fill in the gap left on the other side of the defense. According to Metro, Fiorentina’s Marcos Alonso Mendoza might be a late solution for the Blues. The 25-year-old left-back is currently on top of Chelsea’s list who also tried signing Ricardo Rodriquez from Wolfsburg but for some reason stopped negotiations.

It is expected that Chelsea will pay around £15million for the Spaniard who has already had contact with English football while he was at Sunderland and Bolton. While he would be a decent addition to the team, It would be a lot better to see a full-fledged center-back join the Blues.