CONTE: I’M ON THIN ICE
Size matters as Blues boss fears rough ride
ANTONIO CONTE says he is braced for the hardest season of his career – because Chelsea have failed to buy
enough players.
Conte thinks his squad is much too thin, despite the champions splashing out more than £130m on Alvaro Morata, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko. The Chelsea boss complained last season that his rivals all had bigger squads, even as the Blues romped to the title. Since then they have allowed Nemanja Matic to join Manchester United, are about to flog Diego Costa and have also said goodbye to club legend John Terry and rising stars Nathan Ake and Nathaniel Chalobah. Chelsea are facing more games because they are back in the Champions League, and Conte believes they need at least three more signings. He is also set to be short for the start of his side’s title defence, with Victor Moses banned and both Eden Hazard and Bakayoko injured.
Conte said: “For sure, for me, it will be the most difficult season of my career. I’m sure about this. It will be the most difficult of my career as a coach.
Mistake
“For many reasons, it’s very difficult. I haven’t a lot of time to explain a lot of these reasons, but I’m sure about this.
“I have this perception and I hope I’ve made a mistake. In this moment, we have a small squad.
“But I think the best way for the coach, for the players is not to think about this situation and to be focused, to be concentrated, to work.
“If you want to make an excuse for this
or something else, I think this is not the right way.
“Everyone can see the situation, not because the coach shouts, ‘I want this’, or, ‘I want that’. The situation is clear.
“But we hope in the future to improve this situation. It’s very important to try to improve our squad in the numerical aspect. We have a small squad.
“Only one player is not enough to improve our team. We need more players.”
Chelsea suffered a frustrating start to the summer when United beat them to Romelu Lukaku, and when asked why the Blues allowed Matic to join their rivals too, Conte said: “You have to ask the club about this.”
When asked why he thinks the club have struggled to land the players he wants, Conte added: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I think about this.
“Everyone is trying to do their job but, for sure, I think this question is good for the club, not for me.”
Conte is facing defeat over his No.1 target at full-back, with Juventus refusing to sell Alex Sandro, but he still hopes to sign Antonio Candreva from Inter Milan for £22m. He is also looking for a midfielder, with Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater on his radar.
Conte, who won three league titles in Italy before joining the Blues, said: “This league is the strongest league in the world. You have six teams ready to fight to win the title and only one team wins.”