Chelsea have given new contracts to all of Antonio Conte’s backroom staff in recognition of their work in taking the club to the top of the Premier League. The Italian brought two assistants, his brother, Gianluca Conte, and Angelo Alessio, fitness coaches Paolo Bertelli and Julio Tous, assistant fitness coach Costantino Coratti, goalkeeping coach Gianluca Spinelli and nutritionist Tiberio Ancora with him when he was appointed at Stamford Bridge in the summer, but they were only given one-year deals because of the club’s reluctance to employ such a large coaching team. The size of Conte’s staff was at one point a sticking point in his contract negotiations hence the compromise on one-year deals, but with Chelsea having established a six-point lead at the top, the club have moved quickly to give them new deals which match the manager’s three-year contract. Long-term assistant Steve Holland and fitness coach Chris Jones remain on their existing deals.
Levy values Alli at £100m
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has provided a firm indication of the club’s determination to keep hold of Dele Alli amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid by valuing the England midfielder at £100 million, which would represent an extraordinary £95 million profit on the fee that they paid Milton Keynes Dons less than two years ago. Given the 20-year-old’s age and the inflationary nature of the transfer market Levy will want far more than the world-record £85.3 million fee they received from Real for Gareth Bale in 2013, while he has also let it be known that Tottenham are unlikely to sell any of their leading players before their new stadium opens in the summer of 2018.
Mkhitaryan bulks up
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s improved performances for Manchester United — he has scored in each of his past two matches — have been attributed by many at Old Trafford to his increased strength after being put on a weight-training programme by José Mourinho. The Armenia midfielder has put on 8lb since joining United last summer, when Mourinho judged him to be lacking the physicality required in the Premier League. Mkhitaryan started only one Premier League match before December, but had played in three games in a row before injuring his ankle after scoring United’s winner against Tottenham last weekend.
Bilic’s goalkeeper hunt
West Ham United do not appear to have learnt from the summer transfer window when a scattergun approach resulted in them missing out on several key targets. Slaven Bilic made offers for ten strikers which resulted in many of them turning them down on the basis they were not the club’s first choice, including Wilfried Bony and Michy Batshuayi. This time West Ham have already put feelers out to goalkeepers Joe Hart and Asmir Begovic.
Euro giants eye Van Dijk
Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk’s new agent at the Wasserman Media Group, whom he joined this month after leaving Henk-Maarten Chin, is Neil Fewings rather than his colleague Rob Jansen, as has been widely reported. Jansen also represents Everton manager Ronald Koeman, which sparked speculation that the pair could be reunited at Goodison Park. Everton would like to sign Van Dijk, but will struggle to outbid Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, who are all expected to move for the Dutch international next month.