The Portuguese defender is on Antonio Conte’s shortlist of transfer targets (Picture: Getty)
The Portuguese defender is on Antonio Conte’s shortlist of transfer targets (Picture: Getty)

Southampton right-back Cedric Soares has been spotted in London amid rumours that Chelsea are closing in on a big-money deal to bring him to Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League champions are known to be in the market for defensive reinforcements this summer, and are believed to have targeted three Southampton stars.

The Blues are hoping to add centre-back Virgil van Dijk, former player Ryan Bertrand and Soares to their squad, and have made an opening £15 million offer for the latter.

Conte still feels his squad is too small to compete in Europe and domestically (Picture: Getty)

Soares is thought to be very keen on joining Chelsea if an agreement can be reached in the coming weeks, and would compete with Victor Moses for a starting spot.

And now the 25-year-old fuelled speculation linking him with a move to west London by sharing pictures of a trip to the capital city over the weekend.

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The comment feeds of the posts were quickly hijacked by fans of Chelsea urging him to join the club, with the Blues still in desperate need of reinforcements.

Chelsea fans have got a little carried away by Soares’ social media activity (Picture: Instagram)

Although they have signed a number of new players already this summer, Antonio Conte is known to want as many as four new faces before deadline day to bolster a very thin squad.

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Southampton are likely to resist Chelsea’s approaches for their trio of defenders, however, with the club so far steadfastly refusing to allow Van Dijk to leave despite him submitting a transfer request.

On Van Dijk’s possible exit, Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger insisted: ‘Virgil is not for sale in this window and it’s not personal.

Southampton will do everything possible to stop the likes of Soares and Van Dijk from leaving (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s not about him, it’s about an overall much, much, much bigger picture – a change of course for Southampton.

‘The first summer I was here five players went out and six went in, not counting academy. Second summer three went out, seven came in, and third summer five went out, five came in. Now it is one out and two in, and this is who we want to become.

‘We want to mature, we want to be a team that can profit from synergies that create a much more attractive football and a better product for the fans, and gives us a chance to get back into Europe.’

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