Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte believes that Chelsea would have dominated English football if the club had succeeded in acquiring his primary transfer targets in the summer of 2017.
In his debut season at Chelsea, the Italian manager led Chelsea to Premier League glory, largely due to a pivotal 13-match winning streak after adopting his preferred three-back formation.
However, the subsequent season did not go as well, with Chelsea finishing in fifth place, despite winning the FA Cup, leading to Conte’s departure that summer.
Conte had identified a central defender and a forward as critical additions to strengthen his squad after winning the Premier League, with Virgil van Dijk and Romelu Lukaku being his ideal choices for these positions.
Instead of securing Conte’s preferred targets, Chelsea brought in Antonio Rudiger, who at the time was not the established player he is today, and Liverpool succeeded in signing Van Dijk from Southampton after waiting until January and spending a record £75 million.
Likewise, Lukaku chose Manchester United over Chelsea, leading the Blues to acquire Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for £58 million. However, Morata managed to score only 16 goals in 47 Premier League games.
Conte views this turn of events as a pivotal moment during his tenure at Chelsea, firmly believing that the club could have reached a level of dominance comparable to Manchester City’s if they had managed to sign his preferred players.
Conte told The Telegraph: “My history says that I always arrived at my clubs in a difficult situation with problems. I always build.
“After my first season at Chelsea, when we won the title, we could have become dominant in England.
“We spoke with Lukaku and Van Dijk, and with those two important players we could have changed the situation.”
Do you agree with Conte that his Chelsea team would have dominated the Premier League if his preferred targets had been signed in the summer of 2017?
Meanwhile, former Chelsea star William Gallas has claimed this Chelsea legend was a lazy player