No one really expected Antonio Conte and Chelsea to be as dominant as they were during the 2016/17 season.
The Blues won a remarkable 30 of their 38 Premier League games as they really cruised to the league title in the Italian’s debut season in English football.
Many believe the defining moment of the season was when Conte made the permanent switch from a back four to a back three during a drubbing at Arsenal away with helped get Chelsea back on the right track.
Having now cemented in the 3-4-3 formation at Stamford Bridge, Conte still has a lot of square pegs in round holes and his plans for the summer is to add numbers to his squad ahead of a Champions League campaign.
Adding another left wing-back to the squad to take some of the pressure off Marcos Alonso’s shoulders is a priority for Conte.
Someone the Blues are said to be closing in on is Juventus defender Alex Sandro, with the Brazilian said to be costing Chelsea somewhere in the region of £60m this summer.
The former Porto standout has established himself as arguably one of Europe’s finest left-sided defenders and is heavily favoured to join Chelsea this summer according to http://oddsdigger.com/.
Despite scoring the goal which clinched Chelsea their fifth Premier League title, Michy Batshuayi is yet to convince Conte or anyone at Chelsea that he can be a consistent goalscorer at this level.
The Belgium international could leave Chelsea on loan with West Ham interested in signing him a year after missing out on the former Marseille man.
With Batshuayi going out, the likely face coming in to replace him is a familiar one.
Everton star Romelu Lukaku is eager to force through a move away from Everton this summer and Chelsea appear to be the striker’s preferred destination, snubbing interest from Manchester United.
Chelsea signed Lukaku as a replacement for Didier Drogba but things never worked out for him and after two loan spells he joined Everton for a reported £28m, but he could return to West London for as much as £70m.
Conte will need to make the right additions this summer but in all likelihood, they will enter the season as favourites to retain their Premier League title and you can find live odds on football here ahead of the new season.
Competing on a European front next season will be a new dynamic for Conte to tackle but one he can overcome with a squad bolstered with fresh talent.
