Conte: I almost signed Lukaku & Van Dijk for Chelsea

The former Blues boss revealed the full story on how he almost brought Lukaku and Van Dijk to Stamford Bridge.

Antonio Conte revealed he came ‘very, very close’ to signing Romelu Lukaku and Virgil van Dijk for Chelsea and suggested these failed moves led to a loss of momentum during his days as the manager.

The Italian became Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor in 2016 after Guus Hiddink stepped down as interim coach. He arrived on the back of impressive spells with Juventus and Italy and didn’t disappoint.

Conte won the Premier League at the first time of asking, but cracks in his relationship with the club appeared towards the end of his second season. He was later given his marching orders after winning the FA Cup in 2018.

But had Roman Abramovich bankrolled moves for Everton’s Lukaku and Southampton’s Van Dijk at the time, Conte suggests it may have been a different story.

"I asked for two players and we [Chelsea] were very, very close.

"One was Romelu Lukaku, the other was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close. I always said that with these two players we would improve my team by 30%".

– Antonio Conte via @TeleFootball pic.twitter.com/oCoWe47e03

— Simon Phillips (@SiPhillipsSport) November 17, 2020

The now-Inter Milan manager told The Telegraph: “I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the league.

“One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close.

“We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve my team by 30 per cent.

“I think maybe we lost the momentum to bring Chelsea at the very top and then to stay for many years.

“It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.”