New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is looking to orchestrate a squad overhaul to take the struggling Blues back to the top. The Italian has now told the club hierarchy that he needs at least five more signings to be able to immediately challenge for the Premier League title.
The former Juventus manager got off to a less-than-impressive start to his Chelsea career as the Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat to Austrian minnows Rapid Vienna. After the game, Conte reportedly had a heated discussion with club owner Roman Abramovich, director Marina Granovskaia and technical director Michael Emenalo. The Italian told the management that Chelsea need at least five more players if they want to challenge for the title this season, according to the Mirror.
The match against Rapid Vienna was the first time that Conte had the opportunity to witness his squad in action and the Italian clearly identified areas that needed strengthening. Although the former Azzurri manager thinks he has enough talent in midfield, Conte has prioritized the signing of at least one striker, two defensive reinforcements and a back-up goalkeeper, with subsequent reports claiming that the Italian thinks four more signings could be enough.
Chelsea have had an unremarkable summer of spending so far. They brought in Olympique Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi for £33.2 million and Leicester City midfielder N’golo Kante for £30 million. However, they have been strongly linked with a number of other players. Their relentless pursuit of Radja Nainggolan has failed to persuade the Belgian to leave Serie A club Roma, while they continue to target Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, Everton’s Romelu Lukaku and Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
They have been joined in their pursuit of Koulibaly by Premier League rivals Everton, while the club has also reportedly seen a £62 million bid for Morata rejected by Real Madrid. Chelsea are now looking to tempt their former Belgian striker Lukaku away from Everton, and have also approached Portuguese club Benfica for their Swedish defender Victor Lindelof.
Conte has prioritized the strengthening of the strike force, with a third signing set to compete with Diego Costa and new signing Batshuayi. Two defensive signings are also seen as necessary, while the Blues are also looking to sign former Real Madrid and current AC Milan goalkeeper Diego Lopez.