London, August 2: Following the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is reportedly looking at Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater as a potential candidate to replace the defensive midfielder.

All leagues special site

The Premier League champions recently acquired Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco, however, the Italian manager is still reportedly eager to add another midfielder to his squad.

The Chelsea manager was keen about adding Bayern's Renato Sanches to his squad, but after Bayern's decision of not letting the youngster go, Chelsea have reportedly now turned towards Danny Drinkwater as a potential replacement for the departed Serb.

The 27-year-old signed a new contract earlier last year and made a commitment till 2021. The reported price for the English midfielder is believed to be £40 million, however with so many years running in his contract, prising him away could be tough for the last season's Premier league champions.

Also, with the Foxes star Riyad Mahrez apparently nearing a move to Roma this summer, Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare will not want to let go of another of his big names.

Drinkwater was a vital player for the Leicester City team that rocked the footballing world when they won the Premier League in the 2015/16 season.

However, last season was totally different, they struggled in the league and only managed to finish 12th in the table and but made the quarter-finals of the Champions League, missing out barely to Atletico Madrid. But Drinkwater's performance was all along good.

Drinkwater made 43 appearances for the Foxes last season, scoring once and bagging three assists. The 27-year old has also been capped three times for the England national team so far, having made his debut in March last year.

Apart from Drinkwater, the Blues are also reportedly targeting Everton's Ross Barkley and Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to strengthen the squad.

OneIndia News