Conte wants to drop two key players and recruit Di Maria.
The Italian manager wants to overhaul Chelsea's defense immediately after their 0-3 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League.
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Ivanovic and Cahill (from right) are weak links in Chelsea's defense. Photo: Reuters. |
According to Sport Mail, the two players blacklisted by manager Conte are Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic. Both players made mistakes leading to goals conceded by Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. Cahill, in particular, made a silly error with a back pass that allowed Alexis Sanchez to open the scoring.
Despite adding David Luiz and Marcos Alonso in the final days of the summer transfer window, Sport Mail sources suggest that manager Conte still wants two more central defenders and a full-back when the mid-season transfer window opens.
Chelsea could bring in young homegrown players like Michael Keane from Burnley and Ben Gibson from Middlesbrough.
Besides overhauling their defense, Chelsea also have ambitions to bring Di Maria back to England. The Argentine midfielder is reportedly unhappy since PSG replaced coach Laurent Blanc with Unai Emery. Di Maria struggled with Man Utd during his single season playing in England, but manager Conte still admires the Argentine midfielder.
Di Maria could bring creativity to Chelsea, something that stars like Hazard, Willian, and Fabregas are lacking at Stamford Bridge.
According to VNE
