Chelsea round-up: Community Shield defeat reaction; Barkley price lowered; Conte rules out mega-signing

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Antonio Conte cut a desolate and isolated figure at Wembley on Sunday afternoon as he went up the steps to collect his runners up medal for the Community Shield, and he wasn’t much more positive post match as he discussed the tie. He did, however, defend his team, telling the club website:

“For sure there is a bit of frustration… This game was a tough game for both teams. We tried to win, and we tried to improve our physical condition because in six days we start the league. Now the most important thing is to continue to work and to improve our team… Courtois is one of the best players to kick a penalty. If you have a player that shows you during training to be one of the best, you pick him to shoot a penalty.”

It was a woeful end to the afternoon for Chelsea, who had looked comfortable after Victor Moses gave them the lead. Pedro’s red card was a turning point, with Sead Kolasinac equalising immediately after before an embarrassing penalty shoot-out in which Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Morata’s penalty misses cost the Blues the game.

Chelsea may now turn their attentions to transfer business, with Ross Barkley amongst the candidates. The Mirror claim that the Blues are interested in the Everton man, with the Toffees lowering their asking price to £35 million after failing to receive any offers so far this summer.

The attacking midfielder’s contract will expire next summer and Everton are looking to cash in this month. As he would fit into the homegrown quota, he could be a valuable addition for Antonio Conte. However, it remains unclear if the Blues will act on their reported interest.

If the price tag is a problem, it may be easy to see why. Conte has explained that he would rather his club spend smaller amounts on a number of players than splash out on one superstar, as Paris Saint-Germain have done for Neymar. The boss was quoted by Metro as saying:

“I think now is not the right moment for Chelsea to spend so much money on one player because we need many players. It’s important to divide this amount of money to buy many players. Now for us it’s very important to try to improve our squad, in the numerical aspect, we have a small squad. I think only one player is not enough to improve our team, we need more players, not of top level like Neymar, but more players to improve our squad, our quality, and our numerical aspect, now we are a few players [short].”

Chelsea’s squad continues to look thin, with little in terms of cover or options. That is a concern given the number of Champions League, cup and Premier League fixtures that they will face in the 2017/18 season.