Chelsea tell Leicester they won’t pay more than £30million for Danny Drinkwater

CHELSEA have told Leicester they won't pay more than £30million to land Danny Drinkwater.

The Premier League winners have made a move for the England midfielder as Antonio Conte looks to strengthen his options at Stamford Bridge.

Conte first declared an interest in signing Drinkwater a year ago when he arrived in his job in west London.

After the club captured N'Golo Kante from the Foxes last summer it was decided they would not be able to persuade the then champions to sell them another of their key players.

But Chelsea have revived their interest in the 27-year-old as Conte desperately tries to bolster his options in his squad this summer.

Yet they have made it clear they will not be held to ransom by Leicester, and will only do a deal if the midlands club are fair with their asking price.

The London club splashed out £32m to sign Kante a year ago, and even allowing for an inflation in transfer fees they do not want to pay any more than that for his old central midfield partner.

Chelsea know they need to bring in more players in the coming weeks having let two central midfielders leave the club this summer.

Nemanja Matic quit Stamford Bridge last week to make a £40m move to Manchester United - while Nathaniel Chalobah decided to join Watford in search of regular football.

With Tiemoue Bakayoko arriving in a £40m move from Monaco, it leaves Conte at least one man down in options in a key area of the pitch.

Cesc Fabregas was employed in a deeper role during the club's tour of China and Singapore, but there are doubts whether he has the energy or pace to play that role regularly in the Premier League.

So Drinkwater is a viable option for the Blues having shown he can impact on games in both England and in the Champions League.

But while Chelsea's need is obvious, and the chance to join one of the big clubs is understood to be exciting for Drinkwater, the Foxes hold all the power in negotiations.

Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare believes Drinkwater is an important player in his plans ahead of the new season.

He is understood to be keen not to sell a player who played such a key role to help the club to their amazing Premier League win in 2016.

But selling one of the club's highest wage-earners would also represent an opportunity for Leicester to trim the wage bill that spiralled following their title success.

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