Wilkins ponders over Conte, Chelsea ‘romance’

Chelsea great Ray Wilkins thinks Antonio Conte would be a good choice as the new permanent manager of the London club, however, he has speculated that Conte’s desire to re-shape the backroom staff at Stamford Bridge could be delaying official confirmation of his appointment as the club have “a lot of thinking to do”.

Having had great success with Juventus, winning three Serie A titles, Conte is now in charge of the Italy national team.

It was announced on Tuesday morning that he would be stepping down after Euro 2016, which would free him up to take the Chelsea post.

“I think he would be a good fit. No question about it, he knows his stuff.

“I sincerely hope he speaks the language, because it is a massive barrier if you don’t.

“And especially if he wants to bring in six people as well – I think that could be why Chelsea haven’t quite come out and said he is the manager.

“I believe there are a number of people that he wants to bring with him. His two brothers – one of his advisers is his brother, one scout that watches the away teams play is his brother – plus he wants to bring in two fitness coaches, and two coaches (Angelo Alessio and Massimo Carrera), Wilkins said.

“So, you are going to lose Steve Holland, you are going to lose Eddie Newton, you are going to lose fitness coach, Chris Jones, all fantastic people at Stamford Bridge who know what Chelsea is all about.

“That is probably why Chelsea have not quite announced that is going to be the situation, because they have got a lot of thinking to do.”

Wilkins thinks Conte may have already suggested some transfer targets for Chelsea to pursue while he concentrates on Euro 2016.

“He has probably identified the players he wants and it is probably in motion right now,” Wilkins said.

“But the big problem he faces is that they are not going to be playing Champions League football. A couple of the options he may have had could be changing their mind about coming to London.”