Chelsea to fail in Niklas Sule pursuit

Hoffenheim will snub the prospect of selling defender Niklas Sule to Chelsea in the New Year. The 21-year-old is not keen on a winter exit from the Bundesliga outfit.

Reports last month suggested that the Blues would come up with a renewed £30m bid for the central defender having been dismissed with their approach in the summer.

However, according to Sky Sports, the German outfit will reject any potential bids in the New Year with the player content to help the club attain Champions League football.

Conte is said to be desperate to a recruit a new centre-half in January, and it is understood that he could look at other targets in Burnley's Michael Keane and Middlesbrough's Ben Gibson.

Sule, who has notched over 100 appearances for Hoffenheim, was impressive for Germany at the summer Olympics where they finished runners-up to Brazil.