Chelsea boss Antonio Conte looks on stony-faced at his lone summer signing in pre-season training… Willy Caballero
Frosty Blues boss wraps up warm at Blues training as transfer frustration grows
A STONY-FACED Antonio Conte was wrapped-up watching his Chelsea in training this morning – but no doubt his mind was elsewhere as he watched on in the cold.
Wearing a Blues branded puffer jacket to beat the chill, few could begrudge the Italian and his apparent frosty demeanour.
He thought he had Romelu Lukaku in the bag a week ago before he was gazumped by Manchester United in a £75million deal for the Belgian forward.
And with Diego Costa again absent from training as he attempts to secure a move away, he is facing a striker crisis heading into the new campaign.
Even London rivals Arsenal, who usually leave their transfer business late, have been busy splashing the cash.
They forked out £52m in a club-record deal for Alexandre Lacazette last week and are on the verge of signing Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have been slow with their business this summer, much to Conte’s frustration.
He has managed to secure German defender Antonio Rudiger from Roma this week, but the star has been granted extended leave due to his participation in the Confederations Cup.
LATEST CHELSEA TRANSFER NEWS
And that left the club’s only other signing to date, reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero from Manchester City, as the only new addition on display at Cobham on Wednesday.
At least Conte would have been able to console himself in the knowledge that he was watching the majority of Premier League winning squad in action.
And it was not all doom and gloom as Marcos Alonso gave a thumbs-up to the camera during the session.
The ex-Juventus and Italy manager will also have been pleased to see last season’s standout performer N’Golo Kante buzzing around the pitch ahead of their pre-season tour to the Far East.
The Blues will first travel to China to tackle the Gunners in their first friendly at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing on July 22.
CHELSEA PRE-SEASON FIXTURES
July 22 - Arsenal - Bird's Nest, Beijing
July 25 - Bayern Munich - National Stadium, Singapore
July 29 - Inter Milan - National Stadium, Singapore
They then travel to Singapore to face Bayern Munich and Inter on the 25 and 29 at the National Stadium.
Conte will be hoping to have at least two more additions to his party before jetting off on tour.
They are in the market for Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Torino’s Andrea Belotti and Madrid’s Alvaro Morata as they search to solve their potential goals problem.
