Antonio Conte reveals two players he wanted as Chelsea manager

Former Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte has revealed the players he would have loved to sign after he led the Blues to winning their fifth Premier League title.

The Italian International was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Telegraph where he was speaking about his time in the Premier League with Chelsea and Tottenham. He joined the Blues during the 2016 summer transfer window after a disappointing season had just ended for Chelsea with Guss Hiddink finishing the season as an interim manager during the 2015/16 season.

Conte said in the interview that his style of play to have a three-man defence was not a negative approach to football as compared to what the public thought about his style of play. According to him the number of goals scored was on the high side compared to when a team in set up to defend.

He spoke about that his plan was to bring in Virgil Van Dijk and Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea after he won the league in 2017.

"My history says that I always arrived at my clubs in a difficult situation with problems. I always build. After my first season at Chelsea, when we won the title, we could have become dominant in England. We spoke with (Romelu) Lukaku and (Virgil) van Dijk, and with those two important players we could have changed the situation."

He also spoke about his what drives him to success whenever he joins a club, a feat he achieved when he was at Juventus, Inter Milan and Chelsea.

"If the final target is to win the league and lift trophies, it’s important to offer entertainment to the crowd,” said Conte. “But to be only an entertaining team is not enough if you want to win. I know because I coached the top teams and they always asked to win. For me, now it’s impossible to work for an only entertainment team because the expectation is always that you have to win. I love my past, but at the same time the expectation you bring is always very high and if you don’t win, you have failed. The best possible option is to entertain and win. With a knowing smile, he added: “And to be celebrated, I have to win. Otherwise, the others are waiting to celebrate my failure. This is the truth.”

Conte's last job was with Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, he was sacked midway into the season following the club's poor run of form in the Premier League.