Liverpool No.4 could have signed for Chelsea few years ago
Antonio Conte has revealed that he attempted to sign Virgil van Dijk when he was Chelsea head coach, coming close to acquiring the defender’s signature.
The Italian enjoyed a successful stint at Stamford Bridge between 2016 and 2018, winning the Premier League title between those years.
Conte built a formidable Blues team which included the likes of Diego Costa and Eden Hazard but the Italian wanted a couple of extra players to perfect Chelsea side after their title triumph.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Antonio said Virgil was right at the top of his wish list, along with the Belgium international Romelu Lukaku, prior to the defender eventually moving to the Anfield giants in January 2018, saying:
“I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the league.
“One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close.
“We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve my team by 30 per cent. “It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.”
Manager Jurgen Klopp will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that the Blues failed to sign Virgil, given the monumental impact he has made at Liverpool.
His arrival helped spark a new era of success for the Reds– within five months of him arriving they were in a UCL final, before winning the competition the following year and also being crowned PL champions in 2019/20.