Antonio Conte and Chelsea board divided over transfer targets ahead of £130m spree
REUTERS Antonio Conte and the Chelsea board are divided over transfer targets
Conte has made no secret of his desire to sign more players before the transfer window shuts at 11pm on August 31.
The Italian boss was left furious after Chelsea’s opening Premier League 3-2 defeat to Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Express Sport understands Chelsea are preparing a £130million spree having already spent a similar amount on Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger this summer.
But The Times say Conte and the Chelsea hierachy have differing transfer philisophies.
Sources say Conte wants to sign players to help the Blues compete in the Premier League and Champions League this season while the club believe they must plan for the future.
Bakayoko (22), Morata and Rudiger (both 24) were signings approved by Conte but their age and potential re-sale value was important to the board.
Antonio Conte's £260m potential summer spending spree Mon, August 14, 2017 Click to reveal Antonio Conte's summer spree including done deals and targets Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 8 Joao Cancelo (Valencia) – £25m
Antonio Conte has targeted Swansea hitman Fernando Llorente (32) and Inter Milan wingers Antonio Candreva (30) and Ivan Perisic (28) but the club are not so keen.
Instead the west London club are pressing ahead with deals for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (24), Joao Cancelo (23) and Danny Drinkwater (27).
Chelsea did land 35-year-old Willy Caballero from Manchester City this summer but he joined on a free transfer.
Chelsea have been in talks with Juventus and Southampton for left-back Alex Sandro and centre-back Virgil van Dijk for months but neither deals are close.
And given both players are 26 it may be no surprise that the Blues have not been quick to meet their £60m valuations.
Chelsea’s preferred tactic is to target young players whose transfer values will either increase or stay the same - they made a huge £40m profit selling Oscar to China last December.
GETTY Antonio Conte and Roman Abramovich lift the Premier League trophy