Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has reportedly told club owner Roman Abramovich that he needs five more summer signings to ensure that they’re title challengers.
The former Italy and Juventus boss has already brought in two major signings this summer, with Michy Batshuayi and N’Golo Kante moving to Stamford Bridge.
However, that is possibly only the start of his transfer market push, with The Mirror claiming that he laid out his plans in a two-hour meeting with Abramovich, director Marina Granovskaia and technical director Michael Emenalo.
It’s added that Conte fears that the Blues have no chance of winning the Premier League title if the squad isn’t drastically improved in every department before the new campaign gets underway.
The discussion is said to have took place in Austria last weekend, with Chelsea falling to a 2-0 defeat in their pre-season friendly with Rapid Vienna, with The Mirror adding that witnesses saw Abramovich leave the meeting ‘looking less than impressed’.
Further, it’s claimed another meeting was held the next day before the Chelsea owner watched training, and it now remains to be seen whether or not he’ll green-light a fresh splurge in the transfer market.
Given their plight last season which saw them finish in 10th place, it’s no surprise that Conte would like to oversee a dramatic overhaul to start a new era at the club.
However, having failed in his pursuit of various targets already this summer, it remains to be seen whether or not the right targets present themselves and are available for transfer with time certainly running out as the new season is fast approaching.
Rivals Manchester United and Manchester City have made their moves in the market and have appointed new coaches, and so along with the usual suspects that challenged last season, it promises to be a highly-competitive year.
In turn, Conte will want to be comfortable with the group at his disposal, and perhaps Batshuayi and Kante aren’t enough for his liking.
Chelsea are still arguably short defensively and could possibly do with an addition in both midfield and attack, but it remains to be seen whether or not Conte is able to bring in more new faces to complement the players he already has.