Alexis Sanchez to Chelsea? Antonio Conte makes Arsenal star his priority summer transfer target

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has identified Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez as his No 1 target for the summer transfer window.

The Chilean international will have one year left on his contract after the end of the season and has refused to sign an extension with the Gunners. According to The Guardian, the player has decided to leave the Emirates Stadium and has already started attracting interest from the top clubs in England and Europe.

Conte, who moved to Stamford Bridge last summer, has guided the Blues to the top of the table. The west London club are the firm favourites to win the league title and they also have a chance to win the FA Cup as they have made it to the last four of the competition.

Chelsea want to tie down the former Juventus coach to a new deal. As a part of that, Conte has already discussed the transfers with the club's director Marina Granovskaia and technical director, Michael Emenalo.

The Italian manager has told the Blues hierarchy that he wants Chelsea to sign Sanchez in the upcoming transfer window. Arsene Wenger has already confirmed the contract talks with the South American forward and Mesut Ozil will take place in the summer as the former wants a pay rise from £130,000-a-week ($161,356) to £250,000-a-week ($310,300).

Chelsea will face competition from their league rivals as their former manager Jose Mourinho is also believed to be interested in bringing Sanchez to Manchester United, reports the Express. However, the north London side are unwilling to allow Sanchez to join their direct league rivals and instead prefer selling him.

Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Inter Milan are also interested in securing Sanchez's services. These clubs along with United can meet the former Barcelona ace's wage demands of £250,000-a-week. Conte's Chelsea will have to fight with United, PSG and the two Italian clubs in landing Arsenal's unhappy star.

Meanwhile, Sanchez opened the scoring and assisted his teammates in their other two goals as Chile defeated Venezuela 3-0 in the World Cup qualifiers.