Chelsea told 27-year-old midfielder would be 'fantastic signing'

The Blues have moved one midfielder out this summer, with Matic joining Manchester United for £40 million, while acquiring another for a similar fee.

The 27-year-old holding midfielder, who was a key figure in helping the Foxes win the Premier League title in the 2015-16 campaign, has since gone on to earn worldwide recognition with England.

But Kante, who was voted last season's Premier League Player of the Year, is looking ahead to the new season.

Conte has already signed four new recruits so far with goalkeeper Willy Caballero, centre-back Antonio Rudiger, midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko and striker Alvaro Morata all arriving in recent weeks.

The report says Chelsea's list of targets to fill those positions include Ross Barkley, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Renato Sanches, Fernando Llorente and Alex Sandro while the club will also go for centre-back Virgil van Dijk if Southampton indicate they will sell.

Conte gave a frosty response after being quizzed about potential transfers in the wake of Chelsea's Community Shield loss to Arsenal on Sunday. "I think at Leicester last season you saw without having Kante next to him, he struggled - as did the rest of the team".

"We scored the first goal and we were close to winning".

Drinkwater never got a chance at the club from whose hallowed Academy he graduated, and spent 4 years wandering around Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford, and Barnsley before finding solace at Leicester City.

A move from Drinkwater would see him reunited with N'Golo Kante, with who he made an an excellent partnership with at Leicester as they helped the Foxes towards the most magical fairy tale story in Premier League history.