Antonio Conte Prepares For Oscar Exit As He Looks To Sign Ligue 1 Midfielder

According to the London Evening Standard, Diego Laxalt’s agent has highlighted that Antonio Conte is on the brink of a move for the midfielder.

Chelsea continues to sit at the summit of the Premier League with 11 wins on the spin. Another 1-0 scoreline got The Blues returning home with maximum points from the Selhurst park. It wasn’t the most convincing performance, though, and Thibaut Courtois deserves praises for making some decent saves nearing the closing stages of the match.

Diego Laxalt plies his trade at Genoa as a left-sided midfielder and has been an integral part of the team. The former Inter Milan player has contributed 1 goal, a pair of assist and has created 21 chances so far. The main selling point for the Chelsea boss is his versatility to employ as a left wing-back.

Rumours from media habitually come and go yet the agents reprise the role to rubber-stamp the chances and the Uruguayan’s representative Vincenzo D’Ippolito is no exception.

He told the resource, “Genoa believe in him, but they are always open to selling their players for the right offer. He’s not going to leave in January, but the club will definitely listen to offers at the end of the season.

“There are many clubs that have been scouting him. Fiorentina have been watching him for a very long time, they also wanted to sign him last summer, but there are also requests from the Premier League. Conte had been scouting Laxalt when he was in Italy and he’d love to take Laxalt to Chelsea now.”

Hazard to the squad when Chelsea faced a tricky challenge at Selhurst Park. With his absence last time out with a knock, the club sorely missed the Belgian’s influence. Besides that, only Marcos Alonso knows the role of the left wing-back inside out and in case any injury or lack of form strikes, Conte will be short in numbers.

With Oscar nearing a move to China, an eye-popping £60million is expected to add into Conte’s coffer. Fabregas’ heroic against The Black Cats does underline his importance to the club, however, with every passing day, plenty of rumours are linking him with an exit from Stamford Bridge. If no signings are made, the former Italy and Juventus boss will be left thin at his midfield ranks.

Laxalt isn’t a player who could dribble away from defenders and place the ball at the back of the net all on his own yet he does offer an extra number at both ends. His short passes and quick movement allow him to synergise with his midfield mates. Still only 23, he might not have the stardom that most Chelsea faithful would seek yet has the potential to replicate his importance at Genoa to Stamford Bridge.

Since the deal is unlikely to take place in the upcoming winter window, the left-footed midfielder has to prolong his impressive form at the Serie A as he might even attract scouts from other European giants.