Chelsea still determined to keep Conte but could turn to Enrique if Italian walks away
It is just a number, insists Everton’s new goalkeeper England U21 penalty hero practised for ‘big moment’
Chelsea have no intention of allowing Antonio Conte to walk away from the club despite the manager’s apparent recent frustration. Nevertheless the Premier League champions would have plenty of options in that event, including the former Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique.
There is no suggestion that Chelsea have made contact yet with any other candidate but the club have been faced with relentless reports that Conte is unhappy with transfer dealings this summer, and they were also shocked by his impromptu decision to tell Diego Costa that he is no longer wanted. They want Conte to sign the new contract that would make him the highest-paid manager in their history but if he walks away the club are not without options.
Luis Enrique said he wanted a “rest” when he announced in March that he would be leaving Barcelona at the end of last season. In the event of a breakdown in relations with Conte, the Spanish manager, who won the Champions League and the domestic league and cup double in 2015, would be a viable alternative, having the experience of managing players at the very top of the world game.
Chelsea do not want Conte to leave and they are hopeful that any frustrations the manager is facing can be addressed over the next four weeks when they begin making the signings they hope will strengthen their title-winning squad, including Tiemoué Bakayoko from Monaco and Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. But, as reported in The Daily Telegraph, the club will not tear up their recruitment strategy just to keep Conte.
If he were to communicate any misgivings to the board about the way in which Chelsea are run it would be pointed out to him that the structure is the same one that identified him as the man to bring back success to the club, and also the same which has won two Premier League titles in three years.
Chelsea have never been prepared to sacrifice a robust transfer policy simply on the say-so of a manager, although all their managers are given a major say in big recruitment decisions.
Chelsea have faith in a system that has delivered five Premier League titles under three managers, the widest spread at one club since Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish all led Liverpool to multiple league titles in the 1980s.
They are still hopeful that Conte will sign a new deal that was expected to have been finalised just days after the end of the season.
‘I was confident. I held my ground and made that big save at the big moment’
“Big game, big moment, big save,” says Jordan Pickford. And big fee.
Britain’s most expensive goalkeeper – the £30million Everton are paying Sunderland for him is three times the record set when Fraser Forster moved from Celtic to Southampton three years ago – is unfazed, also. He capped the biggest week of his football career by saving the penalty for England Under-21s against Sweden that effectively kept them in the European Championship here on Friday.
And Pickford followed that by speaking to Everton manager Ronald Koeman for the first time, from England’s team hotel in Kielce yesterday.
“He texted me wishing me good luck,” Pickford says of his new manager after the goalless Group A draw against the holders.
“I’ll be speaking to him on the phone to get an early introduction. I was a bit too young to see him as a player but I heard he was a free-kick specialist and he still takes them.
“I’ve heard he’s a top manager and it will be good to learn under him at Everton. It’s been a big couple of days but I’ll focus on that when I get back.”
Will Pickford be seeking the advice of Koeman – who won the 1988 European Championship with Holland, still the nation’s only major trophy – on how to play in a tournament?
“He could potentially give me advice but it’s just an introduction really,” Pickford says. “I’ve never spoken to him before. My agent did all the stuff. I’m just a lad who likes playing football. I’m not bothered about anything else.”
Certainly not bothered about that fee which also makes the 23-year-old Wearsider, after less than a season as a first-team regular in the Premier League, the third-most expensive goalkeeper ever behind Gianluigi Buffon and Manchester City’s new £34million signing, the Brazilian Ederson.
When Vito Mannone was injured there was talk of Sunderland going for Joe Hart but the then manager, David Moyes, threw Pickford in, instead.
His form has been so good that, after 32 appearances, he earned his move to Everton which, ironically, closed off one of the clubs Hart may have hoped would come in for him as he seeks a permanent move away from City. Next season Hart will be under pressure from the £30million man – and Jack Butland – for a place in the England senior team.
“It’s just a number isn’t it?” Pickford – who at 6ft 1in is relatively small for a modern goalkeeper – says of the fee. “It’s my job to be a goalkeeper and keep the ball out of the net and that’s what I’ve done.
“I’ve kept a clean sheet. It’s just a number, it doesn’t affect me.”
It may seem surprising that a player can make such a big move without speaking to the manager of the club he is joining but Pickford has been on international duty with England and had special dispensation from England Under-21s coach Aidy Boothroyd to complete the switch prior to the first game.
A fee and terms were agreed and Pickford had his medical in Kielce as Everton flew out an official with the contract for it to be signed. It was all completed the day before the Sweden game.
“I got the deal out of the way and over the line,” Pickford says. “I didn’t know too much about it until I came out here but got that done so I could focus on trying to win the Euros.”
In that first game Pickford had to face a penalty that, if it had been scored, and England had lost, would have made it extremely unlikely that they would get through their group, with only the winners guaranteed a place in the semi-finals. There are three groups with the best-placed runner-up also progressing.
Instead, Pickford pushed away with his outstretched right hand, as he dived to his left, the attempted ‘panenka’ kick by Linus Wahlqvist and then collected the weak follow-up by Carlos Strandberg.
“It’s pot luck sometimes but, yes, I was confident,” Pickford says of his crucial save. “I held my ground and didn’t dive until late. I’ve made that big save at the big moment.”
Although England did not play well, puncturing a little of the euphoria around the under-age teams after the under-20s won the World Cup in South Korea last weekend, they, at least, did not lose and Boothroyd will have felt satisfaction in the penalty practice the squad did in the run-up to the finals.
“I’ve been practising for big game, big moment, big save,” Pickford says with England having organised a penalty shoot-out after their behindclosed-doors friendly against Iceland Under-21s at St George’s Park the previous Saturday. “I saved a couple,” Pickford says. “Two of the seven. You practise but when it comes down to it you never know where their lad’s going to go. It’s guessing to a degree but you go with your instincts.”
England need to win their final two group matches – against Slovakia, who came from behind to beat Poland 2-1 in their opening match, here again tomorrow and then against the Polish hosts, also in Kielce, on Thursday.
The biggest concern for Boothroyd, whose tactics, in truth, were cautious, was the lack of creativity with Tammy Abraham isolated as a central striker and Nathan Redmond, Lewis Baker and, after a bright start, Jacob Murphy struggling.
That Boothroyd used only one substitute – Demarai Gray – suggested he was too conservative or he has a lack of options. There is, beyond Abraham and Cauley Woodrow, no other striker in the 23-man squad. “I think we can play a lot better but we still got a draw and we can still get through,” Pickford says.
“We can’t put too much pressure on ourselves. Win two games. We’ve got Slovakia and then the hosts Thursday in front of a packed house. That’s going to be an interesting game. That’s why we’re playing big matches.”
And, in his case, being bought for a big fee.