Chelsea to continue summer spending with Fernando Llorente and Benjamin Mendy — report

Chelsea have splashed the cash to bring in Álvaro Morata, Tiemoué Bakayoko, and Antonio Rüdiger, but the spending is not done yet. According to the London Evening Standard, the Blues' next targets are Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente and AS Monaco left back Benjamin Mendy, as well as a thus far unnamed midfielder.

Llorente was a transfer target for Chelsea back in January but he ended up staying and helping Swansea avoid relegation instead. With just a year left on his contract, he’s been expected to leave this summer, but so far no deal has materialized. Some of that might have to do with Swansea’s supposed asking price at least £30 million, which is hilarious even in today’s market and even if we factor in the added benefit of more or less guaranteeing extra playing time for Tammy Abraham.

As for Mendy, Manchester City recently had a £44.5 million bid rejected by Monaco due to their own act of inflating the market for fullbacks by acquiring Kyle Walker from Tottenham for £50 million. City remain favorites for the 23-year-old’s signature but like with Danilo, they also remain in a constant state of “closing in” and “wrapping up”.

Another option that remains on the table is Alex Sandro, and he’s likely to remain there until he signs his new Juventus contract. If Chelsea somehow still manage to eek out a deal here, the expected price would be around 60-65m, breaking the club’s transfer record for the second time this summer. But after Bonucci’s departure, Juventus are even more reluctant to let this happen than before.

The transfer window is barely halfway over and Chelsea's overall grade has seen plenty of improvement over the past week. Getting Llorente as a backup to Morata so they can reproduce their bromance at Juve, and Mendy to fight for a starting spot with Marcos Alonso would only add to what’s shaping up to be a good summer for the Blues.