Antonio Conte’s reign at Chelsea has started off with the bang, the Italian has secured two wins out of two, with Diego Costa scoring the winner in both the matches. The team has looked excellent going forward, the likes of Eden Hazard and Michy Batshuayi have contributed heavily till now. With all of Chelsea’s attacking lethality, they have struggled for solidity at the back. Antonio Conte is someone who emphasises defensive stability much more than anything. At Juventus and with the Italian national team, Conte was famous for his three man defence. At Stamford Bridge, he has still not been able to perfect that. He has been playing a four man defence, with Terry and Cahill at the centre of it.
Conte has been openly pursuing Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly all through the summer but with just a few days to go before the window slams shut, it’s looking as if the deal will not be able to come through for the Senegalese defender. However, with very few options in the squad, Conte has been forced to look somewhere else for a centre-back. There are reports indicating that Conte might have turned his attention towards Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini. Chiellini has been a stalwart in the Juventus defence line for the past 12 years.
Chiellini is not only a highly experienced and exceptionally strong centre-back but he is also the leader that any team will love to have in their team. The Italian is excellent in the air. He has an excellent reading of the game from the ground, which is why he has a huge number of interceptions and blocks to his name. The 32-year-old is a proper centre-back by trait but can also play as a left-back when needed. If Chiellini does move to Stamford Bridge in the coming days, it is very likely that Conte might shift back to his 3 man defence system that worked so well for him during his tenure with the Italian national team and Juventus. Chiellini has already perfected that system, therefore he will be the perfect candidate to carry the Conte revolution forward.
A defensive duo consisting of John Terry and Chiellini will definitely be one of the strongest and most experienced duos in Europe. There has been no indication for the Italian international that he is looking for a move but the fact that Conte knows him well could help a lot in the negotiations.
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