John Terry, always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, was granted a new one-year contract by Conte but more characters were needed to restore stability to the squad.
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Chelsea has started the new campaign with three wins out of three under Conte, beating Burnley 3-0 in its last game before the global break.
Antonio Conte believes deadline day signing David Luiz will need time to adapt to the philosophy he has brought to Chelsea, but insists the 29-year-old is “a fantastic age to become one of the best defenders in the world”.
Luiz is in contention to start against Swansea City on Saturday having completed a £32 million move to west London from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
Luiz and fellow new boy Marcos Alonso are unlikely to start against Swansea tomorrow despite costing Chelsea nearly £60m, because they are still getting used to a new system.
“If you think that players improve only by looking at them, it’s impossible”.
“I think that sometimes the life is great but I was feeling sad when I left, especially because I didn’t say goodbye to anybody”. It’s important. If it happens that, during a game, a player loses concentration, I don’t like this. “We know against Swansea it will be very tough”.
“He’s played in England before [at Bolton and Sunderland] and for this reason he has good experience of this League”. However, instead of bringing in a brand new face, the Blues made a decision to welcome back a former fan favourite in David Luiz.
The Spanish striker worked with Blues boss Conte at Juventus and has raved about the Italian’s fiery methods.
It was not the most positive assessment of a new signing ever heard, as Conte readily admitted that Luiz “can improve in defensive situations”.
I started playing three at the back with Vitoria in Brazil, but it doesn’t matter where, I want to help and when I am in the team I am there to try to help. He wants to play for Chelsea. In different positions I am available.
Luiz won the Champions League and FA Cup with Chelsea during his first spell at the club from 2011 until 2014.
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“But I hope, at the end of the season, there will be five or six teams that can fight for the title”.
