Former Chelsea Star Believes Blues Are Set for Second Season Collapse Under Antonio Conte
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has suggested that Chelsea look set for another second season ‘implosion’ after Blues boss Antonio Conte voiced his frustration over transfers in the past few days.
Conte famously left Juventus as manager in 2014 after winning three successive Serie A titles, citing the club’s failure to back him in the transfer market.
Though the west London club have spent almost £130m bringing in Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Alvaro Morata, their arrivals have coincided with the departure of some 17 players, including Nemanja Matic who joined arch rivals Manchester United in a £40m deal.
Meanwhile, Diego Costa, whose 20 goals and seven assists powered Chelsea to the league title last term, has been iced out of the team and has been told by Conte that he isn’t part of his plans for the coming season.
With the champions offloading so many players and so far failing to replace them, former Blues stopper Mark Schwarzer believes Chelsea could be in for a disastrous second season similar to that of Jose Mourinho’s second spell at the club, as reported by the Daily Star.
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Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Australia international said: “All the signs are potentially there.
“It all probably started in February when there were all those rumours about Costa wanting to leave and he could go to China.
“He was left out of the next squad and all of a sudden he reappeared as if nothing had happened, but I think under the surface there were always rumbles.
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“The longer this all goes on, there’s always going to be that destruction for Chelsea.
“Now, considering all the problems they’ve had with bringing players in, with players leaving and the Costa thing still hanging over the club – he would be an enormous loss and one that would cause a lot of problems for them when the season starts.
“They’ve had a lot of distractions and I think they could have moved on from all of this if they signed an adequate replacement.”
