Chelsea hopes of landing transfer target Gabriel Barbosa grow

Antonio Conte was given a boost on his first day at Chelsea with £25million Santos striker Gabigol ­confirming his ­interest in joining the Blues.

New boss Conte, who was appointed back in April, finally arrived at the club’s Cobham HQ early on Wednesday morning to work with his new players.

The 46-year-old arrived in a black 4x4 and held talks with backroom staff, before changing into a ­tracksuit and working with the players who had not been on international duty at Euro 2016.

Skipper John Terry, Oscar, Jon Obi-Mikel and Loic Remy were among the stars to meet Conte for the first time.

Chelsea chiefs have been working hard to bring in the Italian’s transfer targets, ahead of the club’s pre-season tour of the USA later this month.

They remain hopeful of landing Gabigol - real name Gabriel Barbosa - despite the fact that Juventus have already registered their interest in the highly-rated 19-year-old.

The Italian champions have made an approach to his Brazilian club to secure his services. Chelsea, however, already have a £25m offer on the table in a bid to tempt the teenager to London.

Santos are trying to persuade Barbosa to extend his contract for another two years from 2019 to 2021.

But the striker is said to be interested in a move to England - despite his concerns at adapting to the Premier League and playing regularly.

Chelsea have already snapped up £33m Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille.

They are also confident that Spain marksman Diego Costa will stay despite Atletico Madrid’s refusal to give up on him.

But they are being frustrated in their chase for Real Madrid’s £65m-rated Alvaro Morata . The former Juventus striker looks set to start the new season at the Bernabeu with Cristiano Ronaldo injured.

Despite Leicester’s insistence that midfielder N’Golo Kante has not yet agreed a deal with the deposed champions, Chelsea remain confident the France midfielder will reject the Foxes’ offer of £100,000-a-week and join them.

As we revealed yesterday , Chelsea also retain an interest in a number of other midfielders, including Sporting’s Joao Mario, Roma’s Radja Nainggolan and Zenit’s Axel Witsel.

Manchester City are rivalling their interest in £51m-rated defender Leonardo Bonucci, while Everton are ­prepared to match Chelsea’s £34m offer for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly .

Conte’s arrival in England comes after a short holiday following his time at the European Championship where he took Italy to the quarter-finals.