Conte eyeing reunion with former Juventus striker — report

We spent much of the summer dealing with rumors linking Chelsea with various players who at one time or another played under new boss Antonio Conte, so it's entirely unsurprising to see that trend continue for the winter transfer window as well.

Here's Spanish daily AS, for example, to link Chelsea with current Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente, who spent one season with Conte at Juventus in 2013-14.

Chelsea planning surprise swoop for Swansea's Fernando Llorente to provide Diego Costa backup https://t.co/py9JDsMAjc pic.twitter.com/x3PrPoHelb

— AS English (@English_AS) December 29, 2016

Llorente signed just six months ago with the struggling Swans for a measly £5m, after a long career spent in Spain and Italy.  The 31-year-old didn't exactly get off to a great start, but has five goals in his last six games.  He signed for two years with the English Premier League's current Welsh outpost, but apparently that's not a good enough reason to dissuade such rumors.

It probably helps the rumors that Llorente spoke highly of both Conte and Costa just a few months ago.

"He was good to work for, he was fiery. You could speak with him, there is a lot of energy and passion there, and players gave their best of themselves every day. He knows when he needs to assert himself to the players, to tell them how to play better. Players respected him, but it was not quite fear."

"I think Chelsea this year will win the Premier League."

-Fernando Llorente; source: Sky

As far as a possible backup to Costa, his familiarity with Conte's system and style would obviously be useful, and he would probably be a cheaper option than, say, Javier Hernández, who was linked with Chelsea this week as well.  If, for some silly reason, we do send Batshuayi out on loan, Llorente would be a quality signing.  Otherwise, we can file this one on the discard pile.