SNUBBED BLUES BITE BACK AT BARKLEY
Conte insists a desire to be the best is more important than a chat with the new manager
ANTONIO CONTE insists a player’s desire to join a club is more important than whether they speak to the manager.
A frustrating window for Conte was capped when Everton midfielder Ross Barkley snubbed a move to Chelsea at the death on deadline day
The shock U-turn led to claims the deal collapsed when Barkley couldn’t contact Conte because the Chelsea chief either had his phone off or was under instructions from above not to speak to the England man.
Conte denied that was the case but insists it is not about him, or any manager, in transfer negotiations, but the club. He said: “If a player has great desire to play for a great club, he signs.
“Sometimes it’s important for the manager to speak to a player before he signs. Other times it’s not. Yes (I have signed players without speaking to them). I don’t want to speak about my English experience. But when I was at Juventus, players signed for Juventus. Not for the manager.” Chelsea missed out on a string of targets, including Romelu Lukaku, Alex OxladeChamberlain and Fernando Llorente.
The Italian (above) wanted more than the six new faces he was able to bring in and admitted time will tell whether the Chelsea squad is now strong enough.
“We have to wait to the end of the season and we will see,” he said.
Conte was keen to move on from a window that raised a number of questions, including why a series of players weren’t tempted enough by the prospect of joining the champions.
Instead, he wanted to focus on those who arrived, including £35million midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who could make his debut against former side Leicester today.
Conte added: “Two years ago, together with N’Golo Kante, they won the league. They played every game and were strong. He’s a really good player.
“The midfielders are very important because I need specific characteristics. Danny has those.”