Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is at it again- criticizing his own club’s transfer policies, albeit this time in a very subtle manner. In the very recent past, Conte has said that Chelsea hasn’t been buying players of high enough quality in the transfer market, and that they need to focus on quality, not quantity during the transfer windows.
The Italian has also lamented what he sees as the financial limitations of his club. He said that Chelsea doesn’t have the spending power of the two Manchester clubs.
These remarks reflect the tension between himself and the club’s hierarchy. Transfers are handled by Roman Abramovich’s right hand woman, Club Director Marina Granovskaia, who has often been on a different page than Conte. Manchester United hijacked Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku deal, and Stamford Bridge was never up to the task of battling the two Manchester clubs for Alexis Sanchez.
Additionally, Chelsea was unable to acquire Alex Sandro, as Conte had wanted. On Friday, Conte said that he is “a disaster” at trying to get the clubs he managers for to get him the players he wants.
“I think I’m a bit of a disaster to convince the club to buy the players,” Antonio Conte said in an epic news conference on Friday; one that saw him also call out the media for being too negative and imply that the club would be stupid if they sacked him.
“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 to persuade their clubs to spend money and buy top players.”
You can be sure that what Conte said here will go over like a lead balloon. Of course, unless total disaster strikes, his job seems to be safe until the summer. Then again, a bad loss or two, and bonafide disaster will be here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
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