Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Alvaro Morata and Federico Bernardeschi

Chelsea have emerged as red-hot favourites to sign Real Madrid frontman Alvaro Morata in the summer.

As per Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, the Spaniard has told close personal friends that his next club will be Chelsea and also revealed that he's a huge fan of Blues boss Antonio Conte.

Regular first-team football has become something of an issue for Morata at Real, as even though he's proved one of the sharpest finishers around, chances have been few and far between.

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Zinedine Zidane often fields fellow Frenchman Karim Benzema in the sole striking role for Real, leaving Morata with little more than opportunities from the bench.

Even so, he's still managed to score 11 goals in all competitions for the Liga giants so far—per WhoScored.com—and demonstrated exactly why he's one of the most highly rated strikers in the world every time he's got minutes under his belt.

Despite success on the pitch and his love for Real Madrid, Morata needs regular football to justify life in the Spanish capital, and journalist Kristian Sturt revealed that he'll be forced to look elsewhere if Zidane remains in charge:

Landing a player of Morata's calibre would be nothing but a good thing for Chelsea, although they'll need to stump up more than £50 million to secure his services.

The Blues tried to bring Morata to Stamford Bridge last summer according to Law, and they'll need to dig very deep to make the transfer happen this time around.

Elsewhere, Chelsea are reportedly plotting a summer swoop for Fiorentina star Federico Bernardeschi, per Calcio Mercato, via James Benson of the Daily Star.

The winger has been a shining star for Fiorentina over the past few seasons, and Conte himself rewarded him for his class by giving him his national team debut in 2016.

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The Blues boss is a big fan of the 22-year-old and is said to be ready to splash the cash to bring him to Stamford Bridge in the close season.

Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are also said to be keen on the wide man, making the Conte factor even more important.

Chelsea have been simply unstoppable in 2016-17 and are more than good value for their overwhelming lead at the top of the table.

After taking on Arsenal on Saturday, the Blues have a string of generous fixtures to bring them into April and see them over the line. Concentration will be key, but with the tight ship that Conte is running, silverware looks a certainty.