Desailly expecting Conte to lead Chelsea revamp

Antonio Conte will make numerous changes to Chelsea’s squad as he looks to make his mark on the Premier League, according to Marcel Desailly.

Last season, Chelsea mounted a disastrous defence of the title they won in 2014-15, Jose Mourinho getting the sack in December before interim boss Guus Hiddink led them to a 10th-placed finish.

It was announced that Conte would take over at Stamford Bridge after guiding Italy through their Euro 2016 campaign, which came to an end with a penalty-shootout defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals.

And Desailly, who spent six years at Chelsea, winning the FA Cup in 2000, believes Conte will oversee an overhaul of the playing squad as the club look to put a poor 2015-16 behind them.

“All the time I think he is the right man before the start of the season!” Desailly told Omnisport.

“But he will be the right man if he is able to build up a team that matches with his own philosophy, meaning the kind of player he needs to develop his own tactics.

“So it looks like there’s a lot of movement coming into Chelsea, they need to remove four or five players in and out to allow Conte to perform.”