Conte reportedly wants Chelsea board to sanction three new signings

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has set his sights on signing Ross Barkley, Alex Sandro and a new striker, according to the Mirror journalist John Cross.

The Blues missed out on Barkley in the summer after the Everton playmaker opted against moving to Stamford Bridge whilst still injured. Conte is still also determined to sign Sandro from Juventus but a January deal remains unlikely.

The Brazilian international has still not agreed a new contract with Juve, which the Italian media have been expecting him to sign for the last few weeks, and that will offer hope to Chelsea that the left back could be still considering a switch to England.

The search for a striker will also likely continue in January after the club missed out Fernando Llorente to Tottenham in the summer. The likeliest candidate seems to be Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke but the Belgian forward remains sidelined with a knee injury.

The 26 year old has as not featured for Palace since the end of September, but could return very soon for the Eagles after a six week layoff.