Virgil van Dijk is a £60m target for Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea have reportedly made a club-record £60million bid to beat the likes of Manchester City to the transfer of Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

The Blues are one of a long list of clubs to be recently linked with the in-form Netherlands international, with Manchester United and Everton also thought to be among his admirers.

Van Dijk has shown himself to be one of the most solid centre-backs in Europe on his day, and has now been identified as an ideal January signing for Antonio Conte.

Van Dijk has had a superb season for Southampton (Picture: Getty)

The Italian tactician is understandably keen to strengthen in that area due to a lack of depth behind his first-choice back three of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta – the latter of whom is a more natural full-back.




Chelsea are likely to lose John Terry at the end of the season and Conte may be unsure over immediately promoting youngsters such as Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen.

According to the Daily Express, the Premier League leaders now look ready to spend big to beat rivals City to one of their top targets, with Pep Guardiola also in desperate need of a signing at the back to boost his side’s faltering title hopes.

£60m would be a club-record purchase for the west Londoners, eclipsing the £50m they paid Liverpool for Fernando Torres in 2011, and it would also be significantly more than John Stones moved to City for in the summer.

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