Chelsea Identify Burnley's Michael Keane As Possible John Terry Replacement

Back-to-back Premier League defeats for Chelsea have piled pressure on Antonio Conte less than two months into the season, GiveMeSport reports.

The losses – first at home to Liverpool and more recently at the Emirates against Arsenal last Saturday – were both reminiscent of the Blues’ lacklustre title defence in 2015/16 and fans have already begun to doubt their chances of challenging at the summit.

The deadline day defensive arrivals of David Luiz and Marcos Alonso have not had the desired effect and Chelsea’s defence still looks frail whenever captain John Terry is not involved.

As a result, Conte is already considering his options to bring in more reinforcements once the transfer window reopens in January.

Burnley’s Michael Keane was the subject of several bids from Leicester during the summer but a final offer worth £15 million was still not enough to tempt the Clarets to sell.

According to The Mirror, though, Chelsea will test their resolve even further with a £25 million bid for the former Manchester United centre-back.

The 23-year-old has been a Burnley player since he made his loan move from Old Trafford permanent in January 2015 and is one of Sean Dyche’s most trusted stars.

The Mirror claim Chelsea‘s technical director Michael Emenalo judges Keane as the ‘ideal’ long-term successor to Terry at the heart of the Blues’ defence.

Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have been error-prone throughout the early stages of the campaign and it’s clear a big shake-up is required to change the team’s current bad run of form.

Luiz is already looking like the last-minute panic buy fans had feared when he was drafted in from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of August and does not possess the leadership skills or personality to galvanise the team in the way Conte requires.

It is believed the Stamford Bridge-based outfit have already made a preliminary enquiry but Burnley should brace themselves for substantial interest in their star over the next few months.