Luciano Spalletti expecting Chelsea to make a move for Antonio Candreva before 31 August

Inter Milan are bracing themselves for a bid from Chelsea for Antonio Candreva after manager Luciano Spalletti admitted that the Blues could make an approach before the end of the summer transfer window.

The Serie A club are keen to retain the Italy international, but Spalletti was not ready to completely dismiss the possibility of the midfielder moving away from the San Siro before the end of the month.

Chelsea have signed four players – Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata – thus far this summer with an outlay of around £140m ($180m). But Antonio Conte is not yet satisfied with the squad at his disposal and is keen for the club to bring in further reinforcements.

The Italian coach has made strengthening the midfield and the full back areas a priority before the end of the transfer window and has been linked with a number of players, namely Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater, Juventus' Alex Sandro and Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in recent weeks.

The west London club have also been on the trail of Candreva since earlier in the summer owing to the Italian's ability to operate in a number of roles. The 30-year-old is primarily a midfielder and operates normally in the right wing or right midfield position.

But Conte is looking to bring him as an alternate to Victor Moses in the right wing-back role and according to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are confident that a bid of around £30m will tempt Inter into parting with Candreva, who is contracted to the Serie A club until the summer of 2020.

"My position is to keep him and the club agrees with me, for now he has not shown any other signals," Spalletti said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"We go forward calmly, then I don't know what could happen tomorrow. As far as I can tell, Chelsea could try to do something. You are the ones who always anticipate these situations, so I should ask you," he added.