Reports in Italy claim Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte has made Marcos Alonso his main target to fill the left-back position, but Chelsea are allegedly asking for €40m to complete a transfer.

Conte brought the former Fiorentina player to London, and was a key member at Stamford Bridge when the Italian won the league in 2016-17.

The Spaniard is adept at Conte’s 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 formations, and flourishes as a wing-back.

On the two occasions Frank Lampard adopted the 3-4-3 formation so far in the season, Alonso stood out in the two matches, especially the away win against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham last Sunday.

And, now the Gazzetta dello Sport claims Conte has made the Spanish defender his priority also during the transfer window this winter.

The newspaper claims the price could, however, stand in Conte’s way, as the Blues are not ready to let their man go for anything less than €40m.

Because of the high cost, the outlet reveals that Inter are considering making a move for PSG defender Layvin Kurzawa, as Conte is reported to be concerned about the consistency of injury prone Kwadwo Asamoah and not overly convinced about Cristiano Biraghi.

Tags: Antonio Conte, Inter Milan, Marcos Alonso

Inter Milan were in a killer mood as they tore their hosts Torino into pieces with goals from Lautaro Martinez, Stefan de Vrij and Romelu Lukaku, coasting home to 3-0 victory.

The Nerazzurri had not won any of their last five Serie A meetings with Torino, including two consecutive defeats at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

Italy international Andrea Belotti fell awkwardly in the opening minutes and suffered a knock to the ribs that left him badly winded. He tried to carry on, but eventually hobbled away to be replaced by Simone Zaza.

At the same moment as the change was taking place, Inter took the lead. Matias Vecino knocked a Salvatore Sirigu goal kick back and Lautaro Martinez managed to sprint away even on this horrid turf, firing the angled drive into the far bottom corner.

Torino kept possession for long periods, Samir Handanovic’s gloves stung at the near post by Cristian Ansaldi, then Simone Verdi’s follow-up deflected wide.

However, just as the hosts were pushing, they went 2-0 down. First Marcelo Brozovic’s cross found a towering Romelu Lukaku header and even more impressive Sirigu save.

On the resulting corner, Stefan de Vrij was allowed to make a run from deep and volley in Cristiano Biraghi’s cross completely unmarked at the back post.

Inter were more clinical and it made a huge difference, as Romelu Lukaku got the third goal. He went on the counter and picked his moment perfectly, firing the angled drive through the legs of Bremer into the far bottom corner.

The Granata ended their run of two points from six rounds with a crushing 4-0 victory at Brescia just before the break for international duty.

Meanwhile after the match, Antonio Conte said he was “happiest with the clean sheet”.

This was the Nerazzurri’s seventh consecutive away victory in Serie A, setting a new club record.

“The thing that makes me happiest is the clean sheet,” the coach told DAZN as cited by Football Italia.

“It was a good defensive performance and that is very important, because we know that we score sooner or later. If we can be more hermetically sealed at the back, then we can be in good shape.”

Photo Credit: inter.it/en/

Tags: Antonio Conte, Granata, Inter Milan, Nerazzurri, Torino