Chelsea aren’t resting on their laurels this summer.

Despite romping their way to the Premier League title last season, the Blues are on a mission to further improve their squad. It’s age-old advice that you should improve while you’re at the top and Antonio Conte clearly subscribes to that philosophy.

Quite how successfully they’re executing that advice is thus far unknown, however. The west London are still yet to make their first signing but their seemingly scatter-gun approach is set to pay dividends in the coming days.

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The capture of Tiemou Bakayoko seems to be a question of when and not if, with the club reportedly £40 million aside for his services. Meanwhile, there is great optimism over the chase for Alex Sandro as an improvement upon Marcos Alonso.

The latter certainly appears harsh on Alonso, especially when you consider Chelsea garnered more league clean sheets than any other side in 2016-17. It appears Conte is being ruled by ambition as opposed to sentiment, however.

This certainly seems the case when you consider the vast amount of centre-backs being linked with a move to Stamford Bridge. Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta all thrived last season but the room for improvement remains.

As a result, the Blues are being incorporated into rumours concerning Leonardo Bonucci and Kostas Manolas.

A Thursday report by the Mirror has linked Chelsea with yet another defensive colossus. This time the man in question is Jerome Boateng and if a centre-back signing would excite the fans, it would certainly be this.

The report states that Chelsea have made an enquiry for the Bayern Munich man and that the player himself is open to a return to the Premier League.

Boateng experienced a tumultuous season in England with Manchester City and was blighted by injury. He was limited to 16 league appearances but did secure an FA Cup medal before his departure.

Since leaving in 2011, though, the German has thrived at Bayern Munich. In fact, the 28-year-old is now both a Champions League and World Cup winner.

Nevertheless, last season was a tough year for Boateng with injuries restricting him to just 13 Bundesliga outings in 2016-17. It is for this very reason that Bayern would strongly consider an offer in excess of £30 million for the player.

It would be a risk, of course, but there is no denying that Boateng is one of the best centre-backs in world football on his day. At the very least his arrival would offer depth after John Terry’s departure and Nathan Ake’s imminent exit.

Yet the German is much more than that and Conte will know it, so the likelihood of a bid shouldn’t be considered outrageous and Chelsea fans would certainly welcome such a move.

That being said, Boateng or not, as long as Conte improves on the title defence of 2015-16, he’s made some sort of progress. Sorry, Jose.

Do you think Jerome Boateng would be a good addition at Chelsea? Let us know by leaving a comment below.