Chelsea Transfer News: 6 Players Discussed in Roma Talks, Latest Rumours

Chelsea have reportedly been in discussion with Roma over the potential summer transfers of six players, including Branislav Ivanovic and Radja Nainggolan. 

According to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport (via the Daily Star's Rhys Turrell), Roma want to sign Ivanovic, 32, despite him only recently signing a one-year contract extension at Stamford Bridge.

The report added that the Italian giants are also prepared to pay £15 million to sign winger Mohamed Salah permanently from Chelsea following his successful season-long loan spell in Rome—he has netted 11 times for Roma in 27 Serie A appearances this term, per WhoScored.com.

Antonio Conte is set to take over as permanent Blues manager in the summer, and he has a huge job on his hands to make Chelsea competitive in the Premier League again, let alone lead them to title glory, per Bleacher Report's Dean Jones and Sam Tighe:

He is going to have to make big changes to the Chelsea squad, and Corriere dello Sport's report revealed interest from Chelsea in Roma duo Radja Nainggolan and Kostas Manolas.

Italian outlet Il Tempo (via Turrell) reported that Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia met with Roma's Walter Sabatini to discuss Belgian midfielder Nainggolan, with the Italian outfit demanding £36 million (€45 million) for him, £8 million more than the Blues are prepared to pay.

The report did add, though, that Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been offered as a potential loanee to Roma in order to sweeten any deal.

Italian football writer David Amoyal believes Nainggolan, 27, could play a key role in Conte's new Chelsea side, comparing him favourably to Arturo Vidal:

Certainly he is a very capable box-to-box midfielder and would significantly improve an area in which Chelsea have struggled this season.

In their 2014-15 Premier League-winning campaign, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic dominated the centre of the park for Chelsea, but they have both been out of form this term.

Nainggolan could bring some control back to the midfield for Chelsea which would, in turn, improve their poor defence.

Greek centre-back Manolas, 24, could also be a fine addition and bolster a back line that has fallen off a cliff this season.

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Ivanovic and John Terry are no longer the ever-reliable presences they used to be—and are also getting on in years—while Gary Cahill has been exposed numerous times this season without a strong partner.

Manolas would represent a potential long-term partner for Kurt Zouma at Chelsea as Conte looks to completely rebuild the squad.

Chelsea are going to struggle to find bargains in the summer as it is glaringly obvious they need new additions and well known that they have the money to pay premium prices.

With Roma, though, they may have grounds to negotiate, and Ivanovic and Salah are two players they should be prepared to let go if it facilitates the purchases of Nainggolan and Manolas.