Antonio Conte turns his attention from Ross Barkley to £30m La Liga midfielder – Spanish reports

Chelsea are interested in signing Villarreal midfielder Manu Trigueros during the January transfer window, according to reports. According to Spanish outlet El Gol Digital, the 26-year-old is the subject of a €35m bid from the Blues.

Since last summer, several teams were interested in triggering Trigueros’ buyout clause but this time, it’s Antonio Conte readying an offer for the midfielder.

Conte, like his rivals, is thought to be in the transfer market for a new central midfielder this month. The Italian manager has been calling out for more signings at the club following a disappointing summer transfer window, failing to snap up their top targets.

Reports claim that Conte wants Chelsea’s hierarchy to sign Bayern Munich star Arturo Vidal, who has played under the Italian at Juventus. Bild say Chelsea have promised Vidal that his salary would be doubled should he make the move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues are reportedly confident of landing their man for just £31million.

However, reports from Spanish media suggest the Chelsea manager could switch their attention to Villarreal’s Trigueros, who is believed to be available for a figure in the region of £30m.

Trigueros is a youth product of the Barcelona academy but failed to burst into the first-team. But since joining Villarreal from Murcia in 2010, the 26-year-old has developed into a key player and has impressed many with his fantastic displays this season for the Yellow Submarine.

A stylish midfielder by trade with an eye-catching passing range and shooting, Trigueros has scored 2 goals and 3 assists in 22 appearances for Villarreal this campaign so far. The Spaniard was named in the UEFA La Liga Team of the Season following an impressive 2016-17 campaign, and he is fast closing in on 200 league appearances for his current club.

At 26, Trigueros has plenty of area for development and could turn out to be a really good midfielder in a couple of years if he continues to grow the same way. However, Chelsea believe that £30m would be enough to sign Trigueros, which would be considered a snip going by today’s highly inflated market.

If the move happens, the Spaniard would fit really well alongside the likes of N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko and could turn out to be a like-to-like replacement for the ageing Cesc Fabregas.