Chelsea are reportedly edging closer to the first major signing of the Antonio Conte era after claims that Juventus and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci has accepted the offer of a contract at Stamford Bridge, while the club also remain keen on fellow Azzurri Antonio Candreva.
According to The Sun, Chelsea have already agreed a handsome weekly salary of £130k with Bonucci and his representatives.
All that remains, therefore, is for a fee to be formally agreed with Juventus. As such, it is suggested that the former Premier League champions will now increase their previous unsuccessful offer for the 29-year-old centre-back to £32m.
It is said that such a proposal is broken down into a payment of £25m up front with a further £7m to be paid to Juventus in various add-ons, if and when certain criteria and achievements are met.
With John Terry in decline, Kurt Zouma coming off the back of a bad injury, and both Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic enduring poor seasons in 2015/16, the arrival of a world class centre-back appears to be the most pressing recruitment issue for Chelsea this summer.
Bonucci, who worked under Conte for three years at Juventus, has been lauded as one of the standout performers at Euro 2016 as part of the new Chelsea boss' three man defence - a system he is rumoured to want to implement at Stamford Bridge.
But while a deal for Bonucci seems rather advanced, the apparent interest in Candreva, who has been linked with a Lazio exit for the last few months, remains in the earlier stages.
The Sun report does, however, note that Conte is confident he can win the race ahead of Roberto Mancini and Inter Milan.
Source: The Sun
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