Chelsea

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte: 'I am a disaster with signings'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 12 February 2018

Antonio Conte admits that he has the ability to get the best out of players but struggles when it comes to initially persuading Chelsea chiefs to sign them.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has confessed that he "can improve a lot" when it comes to persuading the club to sign new players.

The Italian is said to have fallen out with the Blues' hierarchy after missing out on top targets Alex Sandro and Edin Dzeko during last month's transfer window.

Conte recently claimed that he has little say in which players arrive at Stamford Bridge - public comments that reportedly left owner Roman Abramovich unhappy and more willing to swing the axe.

Disappointing displays on the field have only added to the pressure mounting on Conte, who admits that he could do far more to tempt Chelsea chiefs to go for certain players.

"Usually in my experience, I reached the best results possible with the players I have to work with," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "I think that I'm the type of coach who if I have a player who is 6/10, I bring him to an 8/10.

"If I have a player who is 8/10, I take him to 10/10. I'm this type of coach. My task is this and, for this, I'm very good. But I think I'm a bit of a disaster to convince the club to buy players.

"I think in this aspect I can improve a lot. I have to learn a lot from the other coaches, the other managers, in that aspect. I have to speak more with the managers who are very, very good at persuading their clubs to spend money to buy top players."

Chelsea added three new players to their squad last month, bringing in Olivier Giroud, Emerson Palmieri and Ross Barkley for a combined £50m.