Chelsea chasing another Atléti star - report

As we wind down the season without any real fight from the rest of the league (remember when Manchester City were our title rivals? Good times), the most interesting news we'll see will relate to how next year will shape up. Presumably the rest of England will use the summer to regroup and strengthen; Chelsea must do the same if we want to hold onto top spot.

All of which is an introduction to today's most interesting transfer rumour: according to AS, the Blues are looking hard at Atlético Madrid star Koke, who'd be available for a cool £50 million. Granted, it's AS, but that we'd be interested makes a lot of sense -- we raided the then-champions of three players last summer, so we're both familiar with their squad and have a working relationship with the club already, and our needs in midfield, especially against dangerous opposition, have become clearer and clearer as the year's gone by.

That doesn't mean were in seriously for Koke, of course, and AS aren't exactly the world's most reliable source when it comes to this sort of thing. Indeed, at the sort of price we're talking (although that could be mitigated by sending Filipe Luis back to Madrid) Juventus' Paul Pogba's probably a more attractive alternative, but at 23 Koke would certainly serve as an ambitious long-term get.

With Fernando Torres finally off the books and a major new sponsorship opening up new, exciting worlds of cash, expect Chelsea to be associated with some of the biggest names around this summer. We might not get any of them, but boy will the rumours be entertaining.