English Premier League side Chelsea is reportedly set to complete its £25 million swoop of Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic as head coach Antonio Conte wants to inject "more aggression" in the Blues' midfield.
Daily Mail Online reported that Conte is "closing in on a £25million deal for" the 23-year-old Croatia international after I Nerazzurri had signed Joao Mario from Sporting Lisbon. The report also said that the former Italy national team manager is "keen to add more energy and aggression in midfield" and he believes Brozovic will provide it for Chelsea moving forward.
Aside from Brozovic, the Blues are said to be expecting to sign defender Marcos Alonso from another Italian Serie club, ACF Fiorentina, for £23 million, but will still be looking for another center back before the summer transfer window ends in a few hours.
Brozovic, who had just permanently transferred to Inter following an 18-month loan deal from Croatian club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, had been only the third big-name signing for Conte this summer after Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi (£33.2 million from Marseille) and French winger N'Golo Kanté (£32 million from Leicester City).
There were rumors that Juventus was also trying to buy Brozovic from La Beneamata, but the club opted to sell the Croatian to a foreign team rather than giving him away to a rival squad.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside indicated that Chelsea is set to "break the £100 million spending mark" this summer after pulling off the impending signings of Brozovic and Alonso, who is said to be moving to "west London in a deal worth £23 million".
The 25-year-old Madrid native is reportedly versatile enough to play in multiple positions other than his usual left back spot, which is what Conte wants in the first place. However, even if Alonso could also play as a center back, the Italian manager still wants to add another central defender on deadline day to ensure depth to the team's backfield.
At the moment, Conte only has four options at central defense, namely team captain John Terry, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, and vice-captain Branislav Ivanovic, which he deemed lacking in case anyone gets hurt and to rotate the lineup during non-domestic games.
