According to various reports both in England and Italy, Chelsea are ready to secure Antonio Candreva‘s service.
To do so, The Mirror and Calciomercato.com claim, the Blues are ready to pay £25m to Inter Milan.
Candreva and Antonio Conte already worked together when the manager was in charge of of the Italian national team.
Antonio Conte promises to work hard to take Chelsea back to a top level after a very bad start of the season but the Italian coach is uncertain to continue his adventure at Stamford Bridge after his deal will expire in a couple of years:
“For sure I have two years, this season and next season, to work with this club and then if we stay doing very well and we have the same ambition, we continue.
“I do not see any problem about the future. I have two years left [on my contract] but if we have the same ambition we can continue to work together. I think I stay in the right club at this point of my career.
“For sure I have the vision to work and have only this vision, and then I repeat, we have to continue to work, sometimes slowly slowly to try to improve and to build something important. We need time, honestly.”
Speaking about the season that just started, Conte added:
“I like to be positive and last season we started a new path, a difficult path.
“Despite that we won in my first season, which was incredible, but now we have started this path we want to continue this path together to improve, and to bring this club to have the solid foundation to stay for many times at the top and to try to fight to win the Champions League and the league, because a club like Chelsea must have this ambition.
“But I repeat we need time and we must have patience, and we must have patience to work. Now there are people working very hard to try to improve this situation and there are people working for the best for the club, and for this reason the fans must be happy.”
Conte was asked whether he has the chance to make progress in building a solid base without winning at the same time:
“Sometimes you can win and you are preparing yourself to disrupt yourself, and sometimes you don’t win but you are preparing to be better yourself,’ he responded.
The Italian coach signed a new deal that was just a lucrative improvement, but not an extension:
“No person put a gun to my head and said you win or you go away. The only thing I can promise is to work, work, work and to try to do my best to improve the club, and then if we are able to win I am the first to be happy. But sometimes you can win but you are not building something positive for your future.”
Paul Merson believes Chelsea’s defeat vs Burnley in their Premier League‘s opener is not so significant and that it’s very early to write off Antonio Conte’s men from the title race.
“Nobody is going to win every game in a season, it’s one game!” – Merson said on Soccer Saturday – “They got dismantled by Arsenal at the Emirates last season, and then all of a sudden they’ve won a dozen on the trot and win the league at a canter. I think there’s a long way to go – the players they’re missing; Eden Hazard, Pedro, Victor Moses, Bakayoko – who could miss them? Chelsea can’t afford to miss a Hazard, as much as Tottenham can’t afford to miss a Harry Kane”.
Swansea striker Tammy Abraham, who joined the Welsh based side on a season-long loan from Chelsea, spoke of his future plans in an interview with SkySports.
The 19-year-old made an impact as he scored 24 goals in 2016/2017 campaign with Bristol City last season and Swansea manager Paul Clement (who worked for Chelsea) wanted him to strengthen his squad.
“I would love to win some major trophies and I would love to win the Ballon d’Or, that would be a perfect career, – he told Sky Sports – It’s something to push for and work hard for. I have always been ambitious.
“I have to dream big this year. Last year I would have never dreamed of getting near 30 goals and I got 26 which was a massive thing for me. My dad said this year you have to aim for what you got last year, even beat it…I love it, it drives me and it’s something to work hard for.”
Abraham has signed a new five-year-deal at Chelsea before joining Swansea on a season-long loan.
When asked about new manager Paul Clement, Abraham said: “He came to my house and got to know my family,” said Abraham. “We made a decision from there that he is someone I would love to work with and he had good ambitions for me. That’s always nice and that’s when I decided. You get to know the coach and what he wants and what his plans are for the season and for you. It gives me confidence”.
“It was a big decision and we sat down as a family and put all the facts down and decided Swansea was the place to be. I spoke to staff at Chelsea as well and they said Paul is a fantastic guy and is really going to improve you.”
About Chelsea, he added: “Chelsea is a fantastic place for young kids. They develop you, work you hard, and you can see they have top-class talent all around the world”.
“For me it’s the right place to be. I have always wanted to play for Chelsea as a young kid so it would be nice to get into that team one day.”
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen spoke ahead of upcoming clash against Chelsea, when the Spurs will make their Premier League debut at Wembley.
The Dane recalled Tottenham’s last great season: “We were just a bit unlucky, or maybe Chelsea were just that bit better at winning games than we were and that made the difference, – Eriksen added -we finished very strongly with some big wins. We wanted to take that with us over the summer and it was going to be difficult with everybody going away on holidays. But it’s finally here again and we are all excited because it’s been a long pre-season”.
About Wembley, he added: “The whole team is very excited we are going to play there. It’s a new chapter for us,” says Eriksen. “For the first few games we are going to have to get used to where we are going and the drive in will be different but when the game starts it will mostly be the same; the same opponents and the same home fans, just a few more of them than at White Hart Lane”.
More from Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, who spoke in a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s clash against Chelsea at Wembley.
Chelsea had a controversial transfer market strategy so far, but Pochettino believes the Premier League champions still have an edge despite the home defeat against Burnley: “It is true that Costa is not here but it is Alvaro Morata, Michy Batshuayi and I think that they have signed players and the quality of the squad is very good,”
“It is true that last week they had a problem but in football always the next game will be different and complicated and tough.
Then Pochetitno added: “The most important thing is to be focused on us and if they play with a back three or four or five, two midfielders or one, two or three strikers – that is their problem.
“For us, it is to be sure that we need to improve every week and show our best quality to try and win because we are going to play against the last Premier League champions.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted when he met Antonio Conte at the Premier League launch event last week the Italian boss spoke with him about next season: “Last week, we had an opportunity to talk a little bit and he was very clear with me, - Pochettino said speaking at press conference today - He tried to explain what he wanted to say and sometimes the headlines are not the same as what he wanted to say. He explained to me and it’s not a big issue”.
“I respect him and Chelsea and it’s time to play and show we are better. It’s always a challenge to play the champions. He just tried to explain things to me. It is one thing how he relates things to you, it is another how you perceive the message and translate it to the fans”.
“Sometimes the difference is important, and he wanted to try to explain what it was that he had wanted to say. It was different to how you had explained it to the fans, and I got his message direct”.
Then Pochettino noted: “I understood it when he explained to me. What he said did not upset me, it is only that he wanted to be sure that I had got the right message, not the wrong message. For me it is not a big issue”.
Antonio Conte recently said that it would not be “a tragedy” if Tottenham did not win the title as they have not signed any new players, before Davinson Sanchez‘s deal was announced.
“Every manager has a right to say in the media what they want. For me, it is not my job to judge what they want to say or how they give their opinion. I don’t believe he wanted to be disrespectful to Spurs or myself”.
Pochettino added: “Conversation is good. We are colleagues and I think showing respect is important. In the Premier League we talk about fair play and everything, so it is important to show as the manager, we are being responsible every week in front of the media.”
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard had his say about the decision to let both Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek joining another side this summer, the former on a permanent move and the latter on a season-long loan to Crystal Palace.
When asked about Chelsea in general, Lampard said: “They need a bigger squad. You look at the good vibes that are coming out of Manchester City and Manchester United, even Arsenal and Tottenham but it’s not working for anyone at Chelsea. You can see big frustration and the upset on Conte’s face”.
Then he added: “The one who was a mistake was Chalobah. He went for a low price as well so I’m not really sure what went on there”.
About Loftus-Cheek: “He’s got to take it upon himself and show he needs to be back and given a chance at Chelsea”.
During his press conference ahead of Premier League‘s game vs Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has praised defender Andreas Christensen.
“I trust Christensen” – Conte said – “I have already said is a player who is ready to play for Chelsea. Last week he played a good game, he showed great personality. He is a young player for sure he can improve a lot but he has a good prospect of being a Chelsea player”.
Antonio Conte is not concerned after the two defeats against Arsenal and Burnley: the Italian boss is sure Chelsea will perform in the upcoming season.
Speaking ahead of Spurs clash he said:
“We are preparing for this game very well.
“We must be focused on the pitch, on the game and try to do our best against Tottenham and not find excuses, but only focus on the game.
“It can happen during a game to receive two red cards and I think a great club like Chelsea must be prepared for this situation,” he claimed speaking of what happened in the last match against Burnley.
“For sure at this moment it’s not simple, it’s not easy but we must be strong to face this situation. I repeat it’s very important not to find an excuse, about this moment. It’s important to continue to work, it’s important everyone gives 150 per cent, and then we can solve the situation.
“The only words I can tell our fans are these: for sure we are working very hard with the players to have a good season.”
