ANTONIO CONTE IN HIS OWN WORDS . . .

How long will it take Chelsea to get back to the top?

I don’t know. You can see the other teams are working very hard to improve their squads. It’s not simple. I think a club like Chelsea must have more patience than other teams.

If you don’t compete for top players, does that make it impossible to challenge?

For sure it would be very difficult. If you compare it to the past, the situation has totally changed, yes. You have to understand that only through big work can you go and try to be closer to these teams who maybe don’t have these type of financial problems.

Is this a club that has patience? You work for the club, though, you must know...

I give my opinion. Whoever knows football understands well that now we need a lot of patience, to understand a new situation and not complain, only to be realistic. And be strong and to work, work, work. Our average age is very low, don’t forget. But when you do this, you must have patience. You must have patience and change your thoughts.