Antonio Conte’s long and winding search for a central defender has led Chelsea to Nikola Maksimovic of Torino.

Maksimovic, 24, has been refusing to train with his club amid long-standing interest from Napoli.

Torino claimed the Serbia international — who has been compared to countryman Nemanja Vidic — was not for sale but Chelsea have made it clear they are ready to offer more than the £21.5million proposed by Napoli.


In return, Torino have shown they might be more interested in selling to an English club.

Chelsea sold Marko Marin to Olympiacos on Monday and Juan Cuadrado was close to sealing a return to Turin with Juventus.

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