Conte plans to ignite Chelsea’s flickering flame into an inferno

ANTONIO Conte sidestepped the invitation to give himself a nickname to rival the self-proclaimed “Special One”, but Chelsea’s new head coach had a clear warning for Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and the rest of the Premier League’s super coaches — he will find a way to win.

And Conte will do so with John Terry at his side, as the Italian confirmed that the 35-year-old, who almost left the club at the end of last season, will remain as Chelsea’s captain whether or not he plays.

A week after Mourinho and Guardiola set out their visions for the two Manchester clubs that believe they are now at the centre of the Premier League’s footballing universe, Conte made it clear that he has not come to Chelsea to simply be part of a stellar cast of managers that also includes Arsène Wenger of Arsenal, Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino.

He believes he can relight the fire of Chelsea’s 2014/15 Premier League title success and bury the memory of last season’s disastrous campaign in which the club finished 10th and missed out on European football.

“I hope the Premier League title winners deserve to have taken the title home come the end of the season,” said Conte. “We are underrated a bit and might slip under the radar, but I hope there’s a small flame flickering here that can, hopefully, grow into a blazing inferno.”

Conte assured Chelsea fans that the club would not be left behind in the transfer market by big-spending United and City, as they continue talks over adding midfielder N’Golo Kanté, defender Kalidou Koulibaly and striker Álvaro Morata to the signing of forward Michy Batshuayi.

“Now, some people can think that Chelsea are not favourites for the title and I think that they can be right after last season,” said Conte.

“Also, you see that we have signed only Batshuayi. We are talking with the club and we know that this club — the team — needs to reinforce.

“In the coming days, we can buy one, two, three players. Players that can reinforce us for the season as it will be very, very tough.”