Italy coach Antonio Conte, who will take over as Chelsea manager after the Euros, already has a tentative list of players he wants to bring from Italy to Stamford Bridge this summer.
The ex-Juventus midfielder, according to Corriere dello Sport (via Football Italia), sent his assistant to monitor Leonardo Pavoletti and Ivan Perisic for a potential transfer. Calciomercato has also linked the former Juventus tactician with Inter duo Ivan Perisic and Murillo.
Another winger?
Perisic has arguably been Inter’s best signing of the summer. The Croatian is capable of playing a variety of roles but has been chiefly deployed as a winger this season by Roberto Mancini. The 27 year old has 8 goals and 4 assists throughout the season, helping Mancini’s side to fourth place.
Conte was present at San Siro when Inter defeated Napoli to crush their title hopes. Perisic played an important part in that game, providing the assist for the first goal to Argentine Mauro Icardi. However, Chelsea do not have a dearth of wingers in their ranks at the moment, so it is doubtful if they would want to add another.
Perisic had arrived from Wolfsburg last year for a fee around the region of 20 million euros and although it is highly unlikely that the nerazzurri would sell him, a big offer from Chelsea could tempt them.
Attacking Depth
The 26 year old targetman from Genoa, Leonardo Pavoletti, however has been a surprise name to be linked with the Blues. Pavoletti holds the unique record of scoring in all divisions of Italian football. This season he has netted 12 times for his team in the Serie A. The Italian press had recently linked him with a move to AC Milan if Carlos Bacca were to leave in the summer. Pavoletti recently came back from injury to score a goal in his second match away to Carpi.
The transfer window is still a long way to go, but these are early days. Undoubtedly, Conte would be doing his homework and scouting players to support his ambitious plans for Chelsea next season. Pavoletti, Murillo and Perisic all suit his style in terms of the amount of hard work these players can put in and their adaptability to the system. Serie A would lose some of its crown jewels if these players were to leave next season.