ANTONIO CONTE wants players who want to play for Chelsea… not for him.
Chelsea’s boss was accused of wrecking a £25million deadline-day deal for Ross Barkley by not speaking to the Everton midfielder. And the Italian faced more flak for talking tactics with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain — before he joined Liverpool instead.
But Conte, who ended the summer transfer window with six new players, insisted: “If a player has great desire to play for a great club, he signs.
“I’m a coach. I like to work on the pitch, I like to work with my players to improve my team.
“For sure, the club asks me my opinion on players who can improve our team. But then the club go into the transfer market to do their best. My work finishes on the pitch.
“I don’t know if I was lucky or unlucky but I was only transferred once, from Lecce to Juventus.
“I remember that the Juventus chairman called me — the manager didn’t. “The chairman spoke with me and with my mother. I was only 21. I think it was a great idea for the chairman to call my mother.
“He wanted to make my mother have the right feeling for this transfer. For a mother to lose one son it’s not easy.”
Chelsea go to Leicester today armed with the midfield pairing which won Foxes the Premier League title two seasons back.
N’Golo Kante starts but Danny Drinkwater may be on the bench after his £35million deadline-day move to Stamford Bridge. Former Torino defender Davide Zappacosta is also in line for his Blues debut following his £23m switch from the Serie A club.
And Eden Hazard could feature at the King Power after missing Chelsea’s first three league games while he recovered from close-season ankle surgery.
Hazard played for Belgium last weekend and Conte said: “I think now I can count on him for sure.
“I have to decide when is the right moment and the right minutes for him but for sure he’s available.”
From The Sun
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