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Chelsea to table £15m bid for PL forward as Conte eyes reunion - report
By Abigail Withey
Chelsea are preparing to offer Swansea City a £15 million bid for their centre-forward Fernando Llorente in a last minute deal, according to a recent report.
The Telegraph has revealed that the 32-year-old is Antonio Conte’s top target this summer as he wishes to be reunited with the forward once again.
Llorente played under the Chelsea boss while they were both at Juventus in 2013/14, and the report details that he is aware of his ex-manager’s interest.
The newspaper claims that the Blues were frustrated when their fellow Premier League club refused to sell the Spain international.
It is understood that the Swans’ boss is bracing himself for a fresh approach from the Stamford Bridge side.
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Llorente moved to the Liberty stadium from Sevilla only last summer in a deal worth over £5 million, and has scored 15 goals in 35 appearances across all competitions since joining.
The forward has been out of action with a fractured arm since June and has missed all of Swansea’s opening games in the Premier League so far.
Football Insider verdict
Conte has been frustrated with the club’s transfer activity throughout the whole summer, and hasn’t kept quiet about it. Now, it looks as though he has convinced his bosses to take part in some last minute transfer activity which would boost the manager’s mood as well as many of the fans. Llorente is a proven forward and would provide the experience and maturity that Conte needs up front, but would most likely be used as a back up for Alvaro Morata instead of Michy Batshuayi. The former Juventus and Sevilla goal-machine will bring experience of playing in big European competitions which will stand Chelsea well during the Champions League. However, as the goalscorer is 32 the Swansea man won’t give the Blues a long term solution to their upfront problems, so if that’s what Conte is after he needs to look elsewhere.
In other Chelsea news, the club have been handed a huge injury boost as winger is called up for international duty.
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