Chelsea are believed to be lining up a January swoop for highly-rated Hoffenheim defender Niklas Sule, sources close to the club tell ESPN.
The 21-year-old is regarded as one of the best young defenders in the Bundesliga and his talents were recognised by the German international setup who included him in their Olympic squad in Rio.
Sule was a mainstay in the side for Germany, playing every minute of every game at the tournament, including the full 120 minutes in the gold medal match against Brazil which went to penalties, with Sule scoring his.
His efforts did not go unnoticed as Joachim Löw handed the centre-back his full international debut for Germany in a 2-0 friendly win over Finland in August.
Antonio Conte is eager to add a centre-back to his ranks in January with just Gary Cahill and David Luiz in the side currently who’re regulars.
John Terry has battled with injury this season and it’s widely believed that this could be the Chelsea captain’s last season with the Blues, while Kurt Zouma has only just returned from a long-term knee injury and Conte wants to send him out on loan in January.
In their absences, Cesar Azpilicueta has been playing right centre-back in a back three of late and has performed admirably.
There are a number of centre-backs that Conte is keeping tabs on, including Burnley’s Michael Keane, Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson and Roma’s Antonio Rudiger but Sule remains his top target.
However, Chelsea face a battle for his signature after failing to land him in the summer as Bayern Munich are also eager to sign the player when the January transfer window opens.
Sule has excelled in a three at the back system at Hoffenheim this season which has helped elevate him to the top of Conte’s winter wish-list. He is under contract until the summer of 2019.
