Former Chelsea Boss Antonio Conte proved himself at Chelsea, just within two years, as the Italian led the Blues to a Premier League title in his first season and an FA Cup crown in his second season at the club.
Despite Conte’s success at the club, he fell out with the club board in his second year and was shown the exit door at the end of the season. Chelsea fans loved the passion shown by the Italian, but Blues fans regret the way he made the club lose a top striker in Diego Costa, a player that we are still yet to replace.
Chelsea tried to sign both Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain three years ago and reports have revealed just why those deals never came to light.
The pair were at Southampton and Arsenal respectively, and according to The Athletic, Conte’s hot-headed reputation and lack of job security played a big role in both Van Dijk and Oxlade-Chamberlain’s transfer decisions.
As for Oxlade-Chamberlain, he also had reservations about how Conte would use him as he didn’t want to feature as a wing-back, which was the Italian’s original idea, while Jurgen Klopp assured him that he’d feature in his natural midfield position for Liverpool.
For Van Dijk, he was more concerned by the stories coming out of Chelsea about Conte’s management approach and rocky relationship with the club’s hierarchy, and feared the Italian would not last long in charge. Both players will look back and be happy with their decisions as they have now won the Champions League with Liverpool, and Klopp has transformed the Reds into a top side.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are a team on the rise with Frank Lampard.