Chelsea are having a nightmare of a season and every fan wants to forget everything that happened this season. But, the club announced recently that the Italian Antonio Conte will be taking over the controls of the Stamford Bridge next season.
But, as we all know that Chelsea like most of the other clubs, needs a rebuilt and no offence but few players need to get out and they need new arrivals from the transfer market. As Conte’s arrival was announced, many players from the Serie A clubs were rumoured and were linked with the club. This will be a fresh start for the club and the manager and he can change the club’s fortune in a year and that’s for sure.
Here, we will look at the challenges that Conte will face once he arrives at the London club-
Convincing Players to stay or finding a suitable Replacements-
Costa enjoyed his first season under Jose Mourinho where he was an instant hit and won his first premier league title but the following season (current season), he has been a disappointment. Ruthless conversations, meaningless fights and what not. We saw him against Arsenal, Everton etc. But, the reports claim that Atletico Madrid are planning to take him back and the player won’t be thinking too much if he gets an offer.
Another star player that has been heavily linked with a move to another club has been Eden Hazard. PSG and Real Madrid are keeping a close eye on him and both the teams are capable of offering an amount that no one can refuse. Besides them, Club has still not offered the skipper a new contract and Terry’s next possible destination is expected to be the American League (most probably).
If any of the above happens, Conte will be suffering in many departments. He needs to convince the players to stay or find the alternatives for these positions.
Conte relies on his midfield more than his defence and that is the main reason Mikel won’t be a fit in his plans so, the Italian needs to find a perfect holding midfielder that could well execute his tactics on-field.
Bringing in the Home Grown Talent-
We have seen at times that Chelsea is not the club that majorly encourages youth systems. Even Jose Mourinho favoured the star players in the squad. Chelsea were unable to hold De Bruyne and we have witnessed how he is doing at this very moment. An another example is of a Dutch professional Marco van Ginkel who is on loan from the club but, never got a chance to prove himself. Then we have Romelu Lukaku who has now become the most wanted man in England. Ryan Bertrand, Nathan Ake, Lewis Baker and the list goes on.
Loftus-Cheek is an emerging name in the squad but we have to wait and see for how long. Traoré and Kenedy, on the other hand, have been offered some good opportunities under Hiddink but still, will they be encouraged under Conte? Most of Chelsea’s loanees enjoy the first team experience in their clubs but rots on the bench of Stamford Bridge.
Hopefully, these youngsters will benefit after Conte’s arrival and will get some first team experience in the club itself.