Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it?
The fiery, over-emotional Italian manager clashes with the tight-lipped Chelsea board.
Reports from The Times on Tuesday morning appeared to confirm what many were expecting based on a strange old summer of transfer business.
Antonio Conte is in a stand-off with the Chelsea hierarchy over transfer targets, with the club reluctant to bow to the manager’s request to spend significant sums of money on experienced players with little resale value.
Chelsea, as a football club have a unique transfer strategy, that many won’t agree with. The sale of Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic to Manchester United, the perfect example.
The Blues will look to sign a player, at a good age, for a reasonable price. Matic re-joined the club for £21 million at the age of 25, he was just about to enter his prime.
He did just that at Stamford Bridge, he helped the club to win two Premier League titles in three seasons, as well as a League Cup. Having arguably gone past his best in a Chelsea shirt, he’s then sold to the highest bidder for £40 million aged 29, nearly double what the club had originally sold him for.
By the time Matic had left the club, his replacement had settled in and met his new team-mates. Tiemoue Bakayoko, at the age of 22, is preparing to fill the void left by the Serbian.
Conte was happy to allow the player to leave Stamford Bridge, but he would have also been just as happy to see him stay as a valuable squad member.
Chelsea are now scrambling around the transfer market looking to bolster their squad with little over two weeks left of the window remaining. Conte wants experience, Chelsea want value, as a result, tensions are high. Conte is not happy at Chelsea and you cannot blame him either.
After what he achieved throughout his first season in charge, it was clear to see he had the nucleus of a strong squad that with the right additions in the right areas could mount a respectable challenge in Europe this season, but that now appears unlikely.
It’s the same transfer strategy that has seen Chelsea be so successful throughout the years, so why change now? It was the same regime that saw the club’s most successful manager Jose Mourinho sacked, twice. He couldn’t convince them to change, so what chance does a record-breaking, title-winning Conte have?
The Italian has become a huge hit with the Stamford Bridge faithful, arguably eclipsing that of his predecessor, so the idea of losing Conte, which now looks like a matter of when and not if, will be a huge blow to Chelsea fans.
Signing an improved two-year contract and not an extension over the summer was perhaps the most telling aspect with regards to Conte’s future.
While never admitting he was at Chelsea for the long haul, the Italian never ruled it out either.
For Chelsea, their model of constant change over in the managerial dug out has not failed them so far. As a club, they’ve lifted multiple Premier League titles, European cups and been a consistent force domestically, but at what cost?
They’ve never allowed a manager the time to bring through any youth products, an argument that gets thrown at the club nearly every other week.
It’s hard to see a way out of this that ends well for the Italian. Chelsea’s board members have never bowed to pressure and there are no signals that suggest that is due to change anytime soon.
News of a disconnect at board level will come as no surprise to Chelsea fans, but merely leave them asking ‘what if’.
What if Chelsea do sign Conte’s desired targets?
What if he was given time to build?
