The Surprising Comments-
Former footballer and Chelsea great Ray Wilkins has slammed Chelsea boss Antonio Conte for allowing key players to leave the club. The English Champions did not have the most overwhelming summer transfer window after a successful run in the Premier League which has drawn lot of criticism for the Chelsea manager
Conte had lost key players like Nemanja Matic, who was instrumental in Chelsea’s midfield last over the past few seasons. Matic played a key role for Chelsea helping them to two League titles including a League Cup as he marshaled the center of the pitch for the Blues.
The Stamford Bridge outfit also lost club legend John Terry to Aston Villa, who spent most of his career playing at the back for Chelsea and captained the side as well. And another solid player who is set to leave Chelsea for Atletico Madrid is Spanish hit-man Diego Costa who was the top scorer for the club in the league as the Blues won the title last season.
Costa was immense for Chelsea but Conte admitted that the 29-year-old striker was not included in his future plans at the club. Having lost such big players in the transfer window would certainly dent any squad.
Conte, however, did bring in reinforcements in the form of Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Antonio Rudiger, but with the London side now playing Champions League games as well, their squad is not great in depth. The Blues lack a certain conviction that they possessed last term and their good run of form came to a halt recently when they played Manchester City.
Former Blue legend Ray Wilkins has slammed Conte for not bringing in new players in the transfer window. He said, “I don’t think we are anywhere near as good as last year, We had the best forward (Costa) in the league last year. ‘We had people at the club that you need at a football club, like John Terry.”
“I don’t know why we didn’t offer John something around the club to keep that Chelsea business going on, I really don’t. Bakayoko is no Matic, not yet anyway. Matic is just superb. I don’t think we are anywhere near what we were last year.”
The title holders suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge during the weekend and are six points behind the leaders, which are the two Manchester clubs. They now face the bottom of the table club Crystal Palace after the international break ends on the 14th of October.
The Editor’s View: Will It Cost The Blues?
The players that the Italian manager did lose had the quality and the class to win big titles. Whether Terry or Costa will be involved in hurting the west London outfit is a different thing, yet, the Matic deal with the Red Devils will not go down well for Chelsea.
The Serbian international has already shown how capable he is and how he can help a team dominate a game, destroying opponents. This will be a real concern for the champions of England, who are trying to retain their league title and win more.
