Even before yesterday’s Community Shield loss to Arsenal, Conte had a lot of questions to answer about this Chelsea squad.
There has been a underlying sense of tension that seems to exist between Conte and the Chelsea board. The Chelsea boss did not look like a happy man in pre-season, as there have been reports that Conte is upset with the transfer policy of the transfer committee.
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Conte has hinted that he was not happy with the way his summer has gone so far. The loss of Lukaku to United still rankles the Italian, while the additions of Morata and Bakayoko only seem to replace the outgoing Costa and Matic, and not strengthen the squad as a whole.
And now Conte has mentioned how he could be powerless to stop Eden Hazard’s potential departure to Barcelona. Hazard is Chelsea’s talisman, and his loss could be devastating for Chelsea.
Conte has already said that he did not want to sell Matic, which is why his admission that Hazard could leave is worrying sign for Chelsea fans. This could spell serious trouble for Chelsea, as it would be difficult to replace someone of Hazard’s caliber this late in the season.
With Costa no longer a part of Conte’s plans, Hazard has now become the man who inspires this Chelsea team. His magical dribbling and creative ability on the ball has been a major weapon for this Chelsea side.
His absence in yesterday’s match against Chelsea was obvious, as the champions lacked that thrust in attack that they had last season.
This is what Conte had to say about his potential transfer targets,
“I have replied to this question [about new players].”
“I hope in the future to have a different question.”
“My reply is always the same, otherwise it means I was telling you a lie.”
Watch this space for more!
