It’s been a horrid week or so for Chelsea and coach Antonio Conte, and it doesn’t seem to be getting much better for the Italian tactician.
Having previously spoken publicly about a lack of depth in his side, the reigning Premier League champions are expected to be active in the final two weeks of the summer transfer window.
Their opening-day loss at home to Burnley didn’t help matters, while the ongoing spat with Diego Costa is also an unwanted distraction as things aren’t right at Stamford Bridge just now.
According to The Times, it’s getting worse as the tension between Conte and the hierarchy is building over his preferred transfer targets.
While he believes that Fernando Llorente, Ivan Perisic, Virgil van Dijk, Antonio Candreva and Alex Sandro would help him achieve the club’s objectives, Chelsea are reportedly concerned that there isn’t enough planning or responsibility being taken over the medium and long term vision.
Van Dijk and Sandro are the youngest of that quintet at 26, with Llorente the oldest at 32. In turn, perhaps it is a valid argument and Conte is thinking too short-term with a view that he may not be at Chelsea for longer than that anyway.
For a club that won the Premier League last season and are now back in the Champions League, there seems to be too much negativity flying around. They bought well with Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger with that trio undoubtedly fitting the transfer policy, but time will tell if Conte survives this season after being given the targets that he wants or perhaps doesn’t want.