Chelsea to beef-up

LONDON. — Antonio Conte reiterated Chelsea’s urgent need for squad reinforcements before the transfer deadline despite a convincing 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday, and revealed that he will allow Eden Hazard to join up with the Belgium squad over the international break.

First-half goals from Cesc Fabregas and record signing Alvaro Morata marked Chelsea’s best attacking performance of the season so far on a hot afternoon at Stamford Bridge, while at the other end Thibaut Courtois was relatively comfortable throughout a late Everton surge.

Conte’s substitutes’ bench looks a little deeper with Fabregas back from suspension, Pedro Rodriguez fit enough to start and summer arrival Tiemoue Bakayoko working his way to full fitness, but Chelsea face a gruelling run of seven matches in 21 days next month across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.

“For sure, we must be pleased with the performance,” Conte said of the Everton win. “We dominated the game, we created many chances to score. I saw a lot of positive things, great concentration and focus, the will to finish this game with a clean sheet. I think it was very important for us.

“If I have to see a little negative aspect, in the second half we could have been more clinical and scored the third goal to close the game definitely. At 2-0, set-plays and corners you might concede a goal and you might have finished the game with a bit of fear, which you don’t need.

“There are four days to go in the transfer market. I think the club is working very hard to try to improve our squad. Don’t forget when we start, next month, in September we have to play seven games. I need to rotate my players because it’s very difficult to play seven games in a month with the same players.