Former Chelsea Striker Chris Sutton believes that Antonio Conte could in fact not be the manager at Stamford Bridge this time next year. Sutton believes that the difficult summer that Chelsea are enduring in terms of new signings and things not being done the Italian wants them could cause him to leave.
The Blues’ Boss has cut an increasingly frustrated summer so far this summer with all key targets proving difficult to land. Chelsea won just once throughout pre-season, losing to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan before finally losing out on the Community Shield to the Gunners.
Chelsea were heavily linked with former Blue Romelu Lukaku before he ended up joining rivals Manchester United. They have also failed to convince Juventus for the sale of Alex Sandro and Conte must be worried.
Read: Top 5 transfers of the summer: Where do the EPL clubs rank?
Chelsea also sold Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for £40 million in a move that did not seem to have the approval of the manager. Speaking in a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Italian boss described Matic’s departure as “a great loss” for the club but one that he had to “accept”.
“Matic knows very well what I think about him,” he said. “The importance for me about this player, who is a really good player, a top player, very important for our team, but sometimes you must accept this crazy transfer market.
“And sometimes you must accept different decisions. But he is a great loss for us.”
Matic being taken from under Conte’s nose will not settle well with the enigmatic manager and decisions like this could in the future cause him to leave.
‘It’s very important to try to find the right solution, to try to improve the squad,’ Conte said this week at the Premier League launch, repeatedly highlighting the fact that he needs new signings quickly in order to compete for the title again.
Despite allegations of a rift between the board comprising of Michael Emenalo and Marina Granovskaia and Antonio, the Italian has insisted that all is well between them and they are working towards getting quality in the squad.
The Football Fanbase View: Having delivered the title in his first full season, we believe that Conte should be given more of a say in the incoming and outgoing of players. Chelsea won the league against all odds last season but with rivals strengthening in key positions, they may not be able to defend their title easily. Also, a return to Champions League is likely to cause fixture congestion and more injuries so quality back-ups are needed to be recruited. Conte is a brilliant manager and a hardcore tactician and losing him will be a major blow to Chelsea and therefore they must do all that is in their power to please him.
