Conte’s time at Chelsea will undoubtedly be marked with some sort of silverware (or a 2nd place finish) per the record of Italian managers who’ve walked through the doors of Stamford Bridge.
However, this particular Italian manager remains unconvinced of his squad’s ability heading into this new season, as after the loss against Rapid Wien a fortnight ago, the manager has claimed that he will require an astonishing 5 new signings.
So, who does the manager want?
Well, he definitely wants more adequate depth in the striking department for when Costa’s injured (or more likely, suspended), and the defence, well, that part of the squad just needs an entirely new mashup.
Here are 5 players that we know of that the Blues are definitely after:
1. Alvaro Morata – The Spanish international striker spent the last two seasons on loan at Juventus, and did so spectacularly during that period that his former club Real Madrid had to pay a whopping €30 million to activate his buy-back clause, and are now, reportedly, expecting to double their profit instantly. It comes as a surprise why Real want to get rid of a Galactico worth the typical amount that they usually conjure up. However, with so many suitors reportedly willing to pay such an astronomical figure, it would be hard for even the Royal Whites to refuse anything exceeding their asking price of £65 million (€77.75 million).
2. Romelu Lukaku – Everton want £50 million for the Belgian striker, who they, for some reason and contrary to popular belief, supposedly believe is one of the best in world football, and will be for the years to come. Lukaku has still got plenty of doubters to convince, though, as Chelsea are quite unwilling to meet the Merseysiders’ asking price, and will be looking towards other solutions if they cannot lure the big Belgian back to the womb from where he cameth.
3. Kostas Manolas – As mentioned previously, Chelsea really do need to get it right when it comes to the defence. The club legend and captain John Terry will most likely seek pastures new if he is demoted from his current player role by Conte, and Ivanovic is on the wrong side of 30, in addition to his recent slump in form, to be considered anything but an unreliable option for Chelsea to build their defence on for the next decade. And Gary Cahill is an option, but the defender lacks the class and the leadership to be seriously considered as a candidate for such an important role. Manolas, on the other hand, is probably not a good fit for the captain’s armband in the years to come either, considering the language barriers that he needs to get himself acquitted of, but he is a rock-solid option in centre-half and should do much better than any of the ones the club currently has at its disposal.
Bonucci calmly converts a spot-kick during Italy’s quarter-final game vs. Germany. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
4. Leonardo Bonucci – The Italian defender made us forget the name of Andrea Pirlo during his country’s run to the quarter-finals of the European Championships. Competition runs fierce when it comes to acquiring this man’s signature, as Guardiola is thought to be in hot pursuit of him. However, Juve are keeping up their profile this summer as ‘the club with the most ridiculous prices’ after raising the value of their 29 year-old and soon-to-turn-30 defender to a meager £60 million.
5. Kalidou Koulibaly – Why hasn’t this man joined the club yet, you ask? Well, I’m glad to say it’s because Napoli have decided to rival Juve when it comes to setting prices for players, as they’ve skied the value of Higuain to €94 million, and along with it, kept raising the valuation of Koulibaly. Last time we checked, they were asking for £50 million and Chelsea were already on their way to Portugal to sign Lindelöf from Benfica.
