London (AFP) – Antonio Conte will head to the beach next week as the frazzled Chelsea manager gets some well deserved rest after battling in vain to land his top transfer targets.
Although Conte has hit the ground running with three successive wins to start his Chelsea reign, the Italian has endured a frustrating time in the transfer market since taking charge at Stamford Bridge in July.
Chelsea have made only three signings and Conte has been unable to land the centre-back and striker he regards as essential to add quality and depth to a squad that went stale last season.
With the transfer window closing on Wednesday, many of Conte’s fellow Premier League managers will be chained to their desks while the final deals are pushed through.
But Conte plans to get away from it all by taking advantage of next week’s international break to head home to Italy for some quality time with his wife Elisabetta and daughter Vittoria.
Conte will keep his phone handy as the deadline draws nearer, but he is happy to leave Chelsea’s last ditch recruitment drive to technical director Michael Emenalo and owner Roman Abramovich’s senior adviser Marina Granovskaia.
“I’m thinking to go back to Italy. Three months now I worked every day. It’s very tough,” Conte told reporters on Friday.
“If I have a bit of rest for four days, it’s good for me, good for the team and good for the club. I deserve a rest.
“I will stay with my family in Italy, go to the beach for a couple of days to rest and switch off my mind.
“My mind is very full of football for the last few months with Italy and then starting immediately with Chelsea.”
– Attractive option –
While Conte leaves west London for some fun in the sun following Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Burnley on Saturday, the former Italy and Juventus coach will hope to return to find some new signings to work with.
And amid speculation Chelsea’s slow progress in the transfer market is due to Abramovich’s refusal to spend top dollar and the club’s absence from the Champions League, Conte was keen to point out the Blues remain an attractive option for top players.
“We didn’t refuse to spend money for the right target. The situation is the target is not available to buy,” he said.
“Something is changing compared to the last seasons, not just for Chelsea but all the teams.
“I think teams of medium level now prefer not to sell. It’s good news for the English league, but not good news for the clubs that want to buy the players.
“I always said I prefer to spend a lot of money for a great player, not a medium player.
“A great player is the same here even if he doesn’t play Champions League.
“We have 44 million fans. It’s fantastic. It shows Chelsea are a great club in the world. For a club like Chelsea you always come.”
Regardless of Chelsea’s travails in the transfer market, Conte says he will have no qualms about trying to improve his current players if he can’t land any more new faces for the first stage of his title bid.
“It’s important to find the right player because England is different from the other leagues,” Conte said.
“You have to be prepared to have many tough contacts during the game. It’s fantastic.
“Sometimes you can solve the problem with money but now we must solve the problem with work.
“This is no problem because the work is my bread.”
