Chelsea are plotting a £30m raid on 1899 Hoffenheim for Niklas Sule as Cesc Fabregas and Oscar are linked with moves to the Chinese Super League.
The Blues were rebuffed in their advances for Sule in the summer after making a £20m offer for the highly-rated centre back but, according to the Daily Mail, Antonio Conte is set to return to the table with an increased bid in January.
Conte had to settle for re-signing David Luiz after he was thwarted in his attempts to sign Sule, as well as seeing a move for Roma's Antonio Rudiger called off after he picked up a knee injury, but the Italian is said to have been instructed by technical director Michael Emenalo to prize Sule away from Hoffenheim due to his undoubted potential.
Despite boasting one of the steeliest defences in the Premier League, Conte wants to bolster his defensive ranks - particularly with Chelsea legend John Terry entering the final six months of his current deal at the club, and with rumours pertaining to the 36-year-old potentially swapping the pitch for a coaching role once his deal expires in June.
Sule has been watched by a host of English clubs, including Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham after impressing for Hoffenheim over the past three seasons.
He has amassed almost 100 appearances for the club since making his debut in May 2013, has helped Hoffenheim to fourth in the Bundesliga thus far this term and has already been capped by the senior German national side despite his relatively young age.
Cesc Fabregas could be the next Chelsea player heading to China https://t.co/w4OCSfHQe5
Meanwhile, Fabregas looks set to follow Chelsea team-mate Oscar to China after reports claimed that Guangzhou Evergrande are ready to bid £40m for the playmaker.
Guangzhou are currently managed by former Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari, and the Brazilian is supposedly keen to work with Fabregas, who has found regular game time hard to come by under Conte with the Blues this season.
However, any move would not take place in January, again according to the Daily Mail, who believe that both club and player would wait until the summer before sanctioning any deal from the Chinese Super League outfit.
Oscar will earn £20m per year in China, making him the third highest-paid footballer in the world [@MattHughesTimes]
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In the event that the 29-year-old would swap the UK for China, he could face off against Oscar in the Far East.
The Brazil international has been hotly tipped to complete a mind-blowing £52m move to Shanghai SIPG in the winter transfer window - a fee that would swell the coffers for Conte in his pursuit for Sule.
Oscar, who has been on Chelsea's books since July 2012, is set to earn an astronomical £20m-a-year if he completes his switch to Shanghai, according to the Times, and become the third highest-earning footballer in the world in the process.
However, contrasting reports in the Independent suggest that Shanghai SIPG's chairman, Chen Xuyan, is concerned at spending such an extortionate amount of money on the 25-year-old, who has hardly played in 2016/17 and despite claims that the deal is already 90% complete.
It is the Chinese government, who hold a 61% stake in Shanghai's Port Authority conglomerate - the owner of SIPG and fellow club Shenhua - who are said to want to steal Oscar away in a bid to promote the city of Shanghai itself as they intervene in SIPG's transfer plans.
If he joins SIPG, Oscar would reunite with another former Chelsea boss in Andre Villas Boas in Shanghai.
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