Winning comes first for Conte
ANTONIO CONTE prioritises winning over his Chelsea players’ happiness and has told Diego Costa to focus on the bid for silverware after further speculation over the striker’s future.
Chelsea are top of the Premier League with four games to play and are in the FA Cup final against Arsenal as the Italian boss chases the double in his first season.
But speculation continues to surround the future of players including Costa, who has again been linked with a big-money move to Chinese outfit Tianjin Quanjian, and playmaker Cesc Fabregas, who is not guaranteed a starting spot under Conte.
The Blues boss did not clarify Costa’s situation, saying: “The present is very important for us. Now is more important than the future.
“I like to underline a concept – that I mustn’t keep the players happy. We must win,” he added.
“You speak about ‘hap- py’. I speak about ‘to win’ and ‘to work very hard’.
“Players are not always happy to work very hard. But I think my target is to put in the mind of my players a winning mentality, and a winning mentality doesn’t have to keep the players happy. It’s very difficult to keep 20 players happy.”
Costa started the season scoring goals at ease, but he endured a sevengame drought which ended with a double in last month’s 4-2 win over Southampton.
Reports resurfaced this week of a move being agreed, although Tianjin were quick to deny this.
Conte added: “Speculation or news, for me, is not important. The most important thing is for us to be focused.”