?Antonio Conte has been left frustrated by Chelsea’s attempts to add to their front line over the summer, and according to The Times was upset with the club’s poor attempt to sign Fernando Llorente ahead of city rivals Tottenham.
The Blues offered the Swans a meagre £5m for the 32-year-old’s services – a figure which was swept aside by the Welsh outfit. Tottenham Hotspur then stepped into the mix for his signature and offered £11.5m to sway the Spaniard away from the Liberty Stadium on deadline day.
Chelsea’s Italian boss was subsequently lead to believe that the south-west Londoners were never adamant on signing the striker, a realisation which has ultimately fuelled his discontent, given Alvaro Morata’s current hamstring injury woes and the reported lack of trust in Michy Batshuayi.
Conte allegedly instructed his club to snag Llorente in January 2017, although Chelsea’s hierarchy were sceptical of the player’s eventual resale value and his mobility on the pitch. As a result, they were hesitant to make a substantial investment, even though the hit-man is widely recognised as a danger in the penalty area aerially.
Conte and Llorente are certainly no strangers to one another either, as the pair originally worked together during their respective stints at Serie A giants Juventus, so the confidence Conte had in Spurs’ new target-man’s ability in the attacking third came with some notable justification.
Chelsea take-on struggling Crystal Palace in their next Premier League fixture after the international break at Selhurst Park, so Conte will be hoping that the contingent he has to work with can fire on all cylinders in the scoring department after falling victim to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City prior to the domestic intermission.
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