London - Antonio Conte’s long and winding search for a central defender has led Chelsea to Nikola Maksimovic of Torino.
Maksimovic, 24, has been refusing to train with his club amid long-standing interest from Napoli.
Torino claimed the Serbia international — who has been compared to countryman Nemanja Vidic — was not for sale but Chelsea have made it clear they are ready to offer more than the £21.5million proposed by Napoli.
In return, Torino have shown they might be more interested in selling to an English club.
Chelsea sold Marko Marin to Olympiacos yesterday and Juan Cuadrado was last night close to sealing a return to Turin with Juventus.
Conte had been keen to keep Cuadrado at Stamford Bridge this season but the Colombian would rather return to Italy, where he won the Serie A title in May at the end of a successful year on loan at Juve.
Cuadrado has not been involved in the opening Premier League games of the season against West Ham and Watford and Conte is resigned to seeing the winger leave.
Although he is well stocked in wide midfield areas compared to other parts of the squad, this will only intensify the manager’s demands for reinforcements before the end of the month.
A centre half remains his priority, having lost out to Manchester City in the race for John Stones and with Napoli still refusing to entertain offers up to £38m for Kalidou Koulibaly. Reports last night claimed they have also had a £30m bid for AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli rejected.
Everton also bid for Koulibaly earlier in the summer but have since signed Ashley Williams from Swansea and have made a bid of £18m for Sunderland’s wantaway defender Lamine Kone.
Napoli are determined not to sell the French-born Senegal international in the same window as striker Gonzalo Higuain, who moved to Juventus for £75m, even if they complete the signing of Maksimovic. They have presented Koulibaly with a new and improved contract.
This remains unsigned but Chelsea have turned their attention to Maksimovic, with Conte apparently determined to recruit any new defenders from Serie A.
‘We have been talking to Napoli about Maksimovic since January,’ said Torino’s sporting director Gianluca Petrachi on Sunday. ‘There has been too much talk and not enough action.
‘Now he is wanted by a big foreign club too. It is an English club and the Premier League has greater financial resources.’
Conte has made an encouraging start in the job with two victories, although he is aware they were both tight and came courtesy of late goals. At Watford on Saturday, Chelsea trailed with 10 minutes to go.
The campaign continues against Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup second round at Stamford Bridge tonight when Conte will rest his senior stars and offer experience to some of his younger players.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to be given a start in midfield against the visitors from League One and Ola Aina could feature at full back.
Cesc Fabregas and Michy Batshuayi, who both impressed from the bench and helped turn the game at Watford, could start and make a case for starting berths against Burnley on Saturday.
Conte, however, with no European football to contend with, will take the EFL Cup seriously and wants to maintain the winning momentum.
‘Losing always leaves sad things in you,’ said the Chelsea boss. ‘You can lose your confidence and for this reason it was important to win these two games because you can continue to trust in the work and raise the confidence of the players.
‘For these reasons it was important to start in the right way for all of us. Now we must continue and we have a great chance to continue in the next game at home.’
WHO IS THIS DOMINANT DEFENDER?
Nikola Maksimovic
Age 24
Nationality Serbia (12 caps)
Position Centre back
Clubs: Sloboda Uzice, Red Star Belgrade, Torino.
Towering defender Maksimovic made his professional debut in Serbia’s second tier when he was just 17. An imposing presence on the pitch at 6ft 3in, he has been dubbed ‘the next Nemanja Vidic’ in his homeland. Dominant in the air, Maksimovic is also deceptively quick and can play as a defensive midfielder. Just don’t expect him to chip in with the odd goal — the 24-year-old has failed to score in three seasons and 76 appearances for Torino.
Daily Mail