As soon as the season ended, the Chelsea manager was quite clear of what he needed to do in order to keep pace with the top European teams – now that they were back in the Champions League. This involved letting go of a few players and bringing in a bunch of new ones.
Conte has more or less done the first bit right, but as far as the second part is concerned Chelsea have been having quite a mixed time. And now in the latest ‘transfer of the day’ Nemanja Matic has moved to Manchester United. While the Serbian was not what you call a superstar in the Blues team but he was still important. So we take a look at some of the alternate players that Conte could sign in order to fill space left behind by Matic.
Ross Barkley:
Ross Barkley is on his way out of Everton, according to manager Ronald Koeman. And as per the reports, it looks like he is Spurs bound. But Chelsea could easily highjack the deal and make him wear a blue jersey again. And the fact that Everton are quoting £40 million for the English International it would be an absolute steal as far as Conte is concerned. The biggest problem though would be the fact that Barkley is currently nursing a groin injury and will obviously take a fair bit of time before he gets back to his peak form.
Eric Dier:
Dier is a player who quite similar to Nemanja Matic in terms of playing positions but signing him from Tottenham Hotspur will be much easier said than done. Just ask Mourinho and he will tell you how difficult it actually is(Mourinho tried to sign the player in the early days of the transfer window). But if the Blues manage to get hold of Dier then it will be nothing short of a wonder deal given the fact that the player can play as a defensive midfielder as well as a centre back.
Renato Sanches:
Chelsea have already played a pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich and Conte has seen first hand the kinds of damage that Sanches can inflict. And due to that Conte has already enquired about the availability of the player. AC Milan had already made quite a bit of progress in regards to signing Sanches but Bayern are willing to let go of the player only on loan. Still, a good enough deal for Chelsea if you ask us.
