London (AFP) – Antonio Conte made it clear Friday he had no desire to see Romelu Lukaku return to Chelsea at the expense of Diego Costa as the Premier League leaders prepared to face the Everton forward.
Chelsea, currently four points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, will look to take another step towards the title and a League/FA Cup Double in Conte’s first season in charge of the London club when they are away to Everton on Sunday.
But it is Everton striker Lukaku who heads the top-flight scoring chart courtesy of the Belgium international’s 24 goals so far this term, with Costa on target 19 times in the league for Chelsea.
Asked if he’d rather have Costa or Lukaku in his side, former Italy manager Conte said Friday: “As I’ve said before, for me my players are the best in the world.
“I wouldn’t change my players with any other players.
“I think that Lukaku for sure is a really good player, he’s scoring a lot of goals this season.
“Yes we must pay great attention to Lukaku, but also Everton’s other players. They have a lot of good players with good technique.”
