It was a difficult summer for Chelsea during the transfer window, but after having rather underwhelming transfers the Blues boss Antonio Conte has reportedly claimed that he is still pleased with the signings he has made. The Italian manager won the Premier League only in his first season in charge of Chelsea but failed to bring in the big stars during the summer of 2017 to re-enforce his squad. His interest in the Belgian forward went in vain as the big striker moved to fierce Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Conte managed to sign one star player from the European Champions Real Madrid in that of Alvaro Morata and also recruited former AS Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko to stabilize his midfield including the last day summer signing Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City. Willy Cabellero also arrived from Manchester City as a second choice keeper on a free transfer and Antonio Rudiger was brought in to secure the absence of John Terry and a potential candidate for the future.
Chelsea lost out on a few big players in the summer that would have a negative effect on the Blues. Club legend John Terry left Stamford Bridge after he wasn’t able to play regular first-team football for his beloved side and Nemanja Matic joined arch-rivals Manchester United for a fee of £40m.
Conte has insisted that he is still pleased with his signed players including the latest arrival of Ross Barkley from Everton in a £15m deal which would surely be a bargain regarding the quality the Englishman possesses.
In a recent interview, the former Juventus manager stated, ‘Compared to last season, we changed players. We bought two central midfielders, Bakayoko and Drinkwater, For the characteristics of our players, to play with three midfielders is a good option. For me to be able to alternate two different systems, 3-4-3 and 3-5-2, is great.
‘When we play against a big team, it’s very important to have more solidity with the three midfielders and two strikers, and to give more freedom to Eden.’ He added.
This is generally a defensive approach in which the Italian manager prefers to control games in midfield by adding stability and solidarity to it and he allows his forward players to express themselves and score the important goals.
Chelsea doesn’t sit too far away from the top of the table in the third position and despite not having a great summer transfer window last term, the London outfit have still managed to put in solid performances in the Premier League. Chelsea also have qualified for the semi-finals of the League Cup where they would face London rivals Arsenal.
However, many Chelsea fans are still quite unhappy with the arrival of Bakayoko, who has been sublime when Monaco have won the Ligue 1 last season. Bakayoko and Drinkwater were brought in to provide back-up for Cesc Fabregas and N’golo Kante.But they are yet to prove their worth in the long run as Chelsea are looking to defend their Premier League title against all odds with Manchester City 16 points ahead in pole position.
