Conte: I´m a disaster in the transfer market

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte labelled himself “a bit of a disaster” in his approach when it comes to convincing the club to sign players.

The under-fire Italian, whose team are fifth in the table, has repeatedly criticised the Premier League club for their transfer policy, with Chelsea failing to compete for the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Virgil van Dijk – both reported targets – in the January transfer window. 

And Conte was frank in his assessment over his approach to dealing with the club’s hierarchy over signing his targets.

“I think I’m a bit of a disaster to convince the club to buy the players,” he told UK newspapers.

“I think in this aspect I can improve a lot. I have to learn a lot from the other coaches, the other managers, in that aspect. I can learn a lot in that aspect.”

However, ahead of his side hosting struggling West Brom on Monday, Conte backed his ability to get the most out of his players.

“My task is to try to improve every single player, in every aspect – about mentality also, about the desire, the will to fight, and the tactical aspects. My task is this. For this, I’m very good,” he said.

“Usually, in my experience, I think I reached the best results possible with the players that I have to work with.

“I think that I’m the type of coach who, if I have a player who is a six [out of 10], I bring him to an eight. If I have a player who is eight, I take him to 10.”