Twitter is a dangerous wasteland full of misinformation and ITK nonsense, and there's a decent chance that all this, intentionally or non-intentionally, falls well within those bounds. It's important to remember that Chelsea having anything to do with Riyad Mahrez would make very little sense, even if the likes of Pedro or Cuadrado or Moses could be deemed dispensable. Just as with the Lukaku rumors, the only thing that really makes sense for Chelsea at this time is spending money on defense.
That said, Mahrez had a fantastic season last year and he'd probably be an upgrade over several of our current starters. Of course, maybe he's just in London for personal reasons. Or some other random reason that has nothing to do with Chelsea. He just happens to be staying at the luxurious Chelsea Harbour Hotel, a stone's throw from Stamford Bridge, and where the Chelsea squad also usually stay the night before home matches.
But Antonio Conte just happens to be there around the same time? He was there to meet our intrepid Twitter ITK of course. ("Our" just being a turn of phrase; he's not actually ours.)
So, the story, according to aspiring sports journalist @AlessandroLdn is that he was going to Chelsea Harbour to meet with Antonio Conte. Here's picture proof of that meeting.
@chelsea_hq i met this great man. thats why i was there. and mahrez arrived when I left pic.twitter.com/7x7V05hY0Q
— AlessandroLondon! (@AlessandroLdn) August 8, 2016
That's pretty exciting already, but then the story suddenly got even more interesting. Just as he was leaving, he spotted Riyad Mahrez checking in.
mahrez checking in at fc chelseas official hotel today @BBCSport @DailyMail @ChelseaFC @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/N9xIquW97g
— AlessandroLondon! (@AlessandroLdn) August 8, 2016
While Mahrez "did not say anything", his agent -- and this where we enter full-on ITK territory -- apparently said that "Chelsea want Mahrez". Which, if true, still may not mean anything; as we've seen repeatedly this summer, just because we want something, we're hardly guaranteed to get it.
@MarkEBarden his agent to me : "chelsea want mahrez"
— AlessandroLondon! (@AlessandroLdn) August 8, 2016
In any case, sounds like it was a fun day for @AlessandroLdn. I'm not convinced at all there's anything actually happening here as far as Mahrez is concerned, but hey, it was a fun diversion for a minute for us, too.
@MarkEBarden i don't want to spoil your afternoon but i met him @ chelseas official hotel where he checked in pic.twitter.com/KTqXC0khfN
— AlessandroLondon! (@AlessandroLdn) August 8, 2016