Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is preparing a formal offer for wantaway Southampton star Virgil van Dijk and is poised to make his move this week.

The central defender, who has been in the Blues’ sights for several months, handed in a transfer request last week.

And that has prompted Chelsea to bigwigs to make their move with a £50million-plus bid in the offing.

Liverpool, who thought they had Van Dijk in the bag earlier in the summer before a tapping-up row wrecked the deal, remain interested in signing the Dutchman. Manchester City have also asked to be kept fully up to speed with developments.
van Dijk is hoping to wave goodbye to Southampton (
Image:
PA)
Antonio Conte is aiming to leap to the top of the queue for the Dutchman (
Image:
Rex Features)

But Conte and technical director Michael Emenalo are confident they can tempt the 26-year-old to make the switch to Stamford Bridge and they will step up their pursuit of him in the coming days.

Van Dijk handed in a transfer request last week. And even though Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino said on Friday that he still hoped Van Dijk would change his mind about leaving St Mary’s, there appears little hope of that.
van Dijk handed in a transfer request last week (
Image:
PA)

Southampton confirmed they had not received any bids for their player at the end of last week but that will change in the coming days.

Conte wants to add even more depth to his squad and with a Premier League title defence and a return to the Champions League in the months ahead he believes Van Dijk will add to the central defensive strength at his disposal from David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta.