Even whilst Chelsea manager Antonio Conte tells press conferences that he remains confident with the situation at hand despite the season opener loss to Burnley in the Premier League, and the Italian says he is not worried about the lack of more signings this summer, Chelsea are doing everything in their power to land Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The defending champions have spent around £130 million to get four players so far this summer, but more players from the title-winning squad have left, and the 3-2 shock loss at Stamford Bridge increased the pressure for the manager to add players.
“The club are trying to do their best. I am not worried, I am ready to fight with these players. I repeat: it is important for us to concentrate on our work, to be focused every day in training and to try to work in our best way. No excuses,” the former Juventus manager said.
With Diego Costa sidelined (Conte deems him surplus to requirements), John Terry and Nemanja Matic both sold, keeper Asmir Begovic sold as well, and an army of the club’s youngsters loaned out, Conte’s squad is starting to look ather thin.
Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata, Antonio Rudiger and Willy Cabalero joined but the impacts of the signings are yet to really materialize. The former Real Madrid man Morata got the goal and assist in the opener as starter Michy Batshuayi failed to impress again. Batshuayi also failed to hit the target when Chelsea faced Arsenal in the Community Shield, despite brilliant preseason displays.
Nathan Ake was sold to Bournemouth and Kurt Zouma was loaned out to Stoke City. With the suspension of Gary Cahill, due to his straight red card, Conte faces a tough task in defence. Cesc Fabregas was also sent off so he would miss the next game. With Pedro, Bakayoko and Eden Hazard injured, Conte faces an emergency upfront.
Conte has been linked to Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Oxlade-Chamberlain is in his final 12 months and with the right terms he could exit the Emirates. The bid for The Ox would be increased after the previous one of £20 million was rejected. If Chelsea pay £30 million, the 24-year old could join Stamford Bridge soon. The moves hints that the manager wants to boost his home grown talents, in line with league requirements. If you’re looking to bet on where a player will end up after the transfer window closes, head to online-betting.org and you can view the best Sites and odds available for each player across the various bookmakers.
The Italian still has two weeks to get the needed players in before the deadline. While Liverpool are the favourites to land Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, the player could join Chelsea. The Blues would readily pay the requirements to The Saints that had threatened The Reds over the future of their central defender. Van Dijk is keen on leaving St Mary’s so a decision would have to be made soonest.
Chelsea are also eyeing other defensive players at St Mary like Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares. Moving for such player at this time in the season is a gamble as Southampton would prefer to keep their players. So far they insist no player is for sale this summer.