Antonio Conte firmly believes that Chelsea could have risen to the summit of English football had the club successfully secured his top two transfer targets during the summer of 2017.
Under Conte’s guidance, the west London side clinched the Premier League title in his inaugural season, largely propelled by a remarkable 13-game winning streak following his shift to a proven back-three formation.
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However, the subsequent season saw a downturn in fortunes, with Chelsea settling for a fifth-place finish in the league, although they did secure the FA Cup before Conte’s departure in the summer.
During the pivotal summer transfer window of 2017, Conte had set his sights on bolstering the squad with a commanding center-back and a prolific striker. His preferred choices were Virgil van Dijk and Romelu Lukaku, respectively.
However, Chelsea’s acquisitions deviated from Conte’s preferences. They secured the services of Antonio Rudiger, who was still in need of development, while Liverpool swooped in to acquire Van Dijk from Southampton in a then-record £75 million deal, albeit in January.
Likewise, Lukaku opted to join Manchester United, leaving Chelsea to secure Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for £58 million. However, Morata’s tenure yielded only 16 goals in 47 Premier League appearances.
Conte perceives this juncture as a pivotal moment in his tenure as Chelsea manager, lamenting that had his desired targets been secured, the club could have achieved a level of dominance akin to that of Manchester City.
Speaking in his first interview since leaving Tottenham almost one year ago, Conte told The Telegraph: ‘My history says that I always arrived at my clubs in a difficult situation with problems. I always build.
‘After my first season at Chelsea, when we won the title, we could have become dominant in England.
‘We spoke with Lukaku and Van Dijk, and with those two important players we could have changed the situation.’
Conte has remained unemployed since his departure from Tottenham, which was mutually agreed upon in March of last year. His exit followed a fiery outburst directed at his players following a late-game collapse against Southampton, during which he characterized his squad as “selfish”.
The Italian has suggested he struggled with the lower expectations at Spurs, continuing: ‘For me, to celebrate fourth place and a place in the Champions League was really strange.
‘At the end of the final game against Norwich [when Spurs secured fourth place in 2022], I called my staff and said, “Pay attention, don’t be used to celebrating a Champions League place”.
‘I was very clear. I said we did the maximum. From ninth to fourth place, with all the problems we faced, was a miracle. But we didn’t celebrate like it was a miracle because I am used to winning.’
