Chelsea target Cedric Soares spotted in London

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Bengaluru, August 25: Southampton right-back Cedric Soares was spotted in London amid rumours that Chelsea are close to a big-money deal to bring him to Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League champions are in the market for defensive reinforcements this summer, and are believed to have targeted as many as three Southampton stars in order to revamp their defence.

The Blues hope to sign Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, their former player Ryan Bertrand and Portuguese full-back Soares by the end of next week, and have made an opening £15million offer for the right-back.

Soares is thought to be very keen to join Chelsea if an agreement can be reached in the coming weeks and is ready to replace Victor Moses in the right wing-back role.

And now the 25-year-old added fuel to speculation linking him with a move to west London by sharing pictures of a trip to the capital of England over the weekend.

Chelsea fans, desperate to see new additions, flooded the comment section urging the Portuguese to join them.

Although they have signed a number of new players already this summer, Antonio Conte has a very thin squad at his disposal and the Blues need four or five players if they want to compete on all fronts.

Southampton are likely to resist Chelsea's approach for their trio of defenders, as the club so far hold firm in refusing to allow Van Dijk leave despite him submitting a transfer request.

On Van Dijk's possible exit, Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger insisted: "Virgil is not for sale in this window and it's not personal.

"The first summer I was here five players went out and six went in, not counting academy. Second summer three went out, seven came in, and third summer five went out, five came in. Now it is one out and two in, and this is who we want to become.

"We want to mature, we want to be a team that can profit from synergies that create a much more attractive football and a better product for the fans, and gives us a chance to get back into Europe."