Exclusive: Chelsea Make £60m bid for Virgil van Dijk in move to block Man City deal

CHELSEA have launched a £60million bid to keep Virgil van Dijk out of Man City's clutches after Antonio Conte made him his number one January target.

Antoine Conte has seen his side race six points clear at the top of the Premier League table on the back of a 13 match winning run.

But he has been looking to strengthen the centre of his defence since last summer and has been impressed with Southampton's Van Dijk this season.

City boss Pep Guardiola is also keen on the Netherlands international but Conte wants to outbid them to the deal.

Saints boss Claude Puel is determined that the former Celtic man won't be leaving the club during this transfer window.

But Chelsea want to test his resolve with hard cash - something which has always been difficult for Southampton to turn down in the past.

They have seen a succession of players leave St Mary's and Puel knows that in realty there is nothing he can do to stop Van Dijk's departure.

It would appear that by making van Dijk their number one target Chelsea have now cooled their interest in Burnley's Michael Keane.

That will leave Everton and Leicester City free to battle it out to try and tempt him away from Turf Moor in a deal believed to worth in the region of £20m.

Chelsea's January transfer targets