Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Michael Keane and Oscar

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is reportedly ready to spend £25 million on Burnley's Michael Keane to help shore up his team's leaky defence. The Blues boss is said to view Keane as the ideal successor to veteran skipper John Terry.

According to the Daily Mirror's David McDonnell, Chelsea have already begun laying the groundwork for this transfer: "Chelsea are understood to have made a preliminary enquiry about Keane, who was wanted by Premier League champions Leicester in the summer."

McDonnell stated that the Stamford Bridge club is optimistic a deal can be struck. He also revealed how well Keane is regarded by the Chelsea hierarchy: "Conte and Chelsea‘s technical director Michael Emenalo see Keane as the ideal successor to skipper John Terry, who is currently injured and out of contract at the end of the season."

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Terry's current injury woes have only highlighted how threadbare the Blues are defensively. Incumbent Gary Cahill looks lost and accident-prone without Terry alongside him, while deadline-day signing David Luiz is never too far removed from a costly error.

Chelsea's defensive frailties were ruthlessly highlighted during the recent 3-0 Premier League defeat at London rivals Arsenal. The Blues also lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool in their previous league match, a game in which the Reds should have scored more after creating a host of chances.

Creating chances is something opposing teams are finding surprisingly easy to do against Conte's men, even with two midfield destroyers, N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic, in front of the defence.

Smart opponents are simply bypassing this two-man screen and setting about a beleaguered back four at pace. It's pace Chelsea simply cannot cope with.

Keane could help solve the problem after his stock has soared since the end of last season. Premier League champions Leicester City did spend most of the summer trying to tempt the Clarets into a sale.

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The Foxes offered £17 million while Keane was stalling on a new contract in August, according to Steve Bates of the Sunday People (h/t the Daily Mirror).

However, Chelsea's resources are greater. So is the Blues' need for help at the back.

AC Milan want Oscar

If Chelsea are ready to spend big again on the defence, they may recoup some money by selling Brazilian midfield maestro Oscar. The South American playmaker is wanted by Serie A outfit AC Milan, per Italian source CalcioMercatoWeb (h/t James Cambridge of the Daily Express).

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Those reports detailed how Oscar doesn't fit in with Conte's tactical ideas: "Conte is looking to shift the Blues into playing a 3-5-2 shape which could force the Brazilian out of his plans."

Looking to take advantage, the Rossoneri want to pay as much as £39 million to sign Oscar next summer. An offer in that range would surely get the attention of the decision-makers at Stamford Bridge, despite Oscar's talent.

It's somewhat of a surprise the 25-year-old schemer has struggled to catch Conte's eye. Oscar can pick a pass in the final third and is also a cool finisher in front of goal—qualities any midfield needs.

Yet questions have still persisted about the Brazilian's future in west London. He was tipped to be used as a makeweight in a mooted deal for Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi at the beginning of August, per Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Joe Short of the Daily Express).

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

However, Conte talked up Oscar's qualities during preseason, seemingly indicating he'd have a big role to play, per the Daily Mirror's Simon Mullock. But Conte still doesn't seem completely sold and may welcome £39 million to further his rebuilding efforts at Chelsea.

Those efforts have to include signing defenders who can restore the solidity the Blues used to be known for when they were winning the Premier League.