Conte admits struggles in convincing Chelsea to buy certain players

Chelsea's Antonio Conte gave a frank assessment of his skills as a manager, telling reporters he believes he is adept at drawing out talent from his players, but is a "disaster" when it comes to convincing his clubs to buy the players he'd like to work with.

Conte has welcomed a number of new faces to Stamford Bridge since taking over at the top of the 2016-17 season, but not all of those players have been of his choosing. Matt Law of the Telegraph reports that Conte had "fought battles" with the club board in the last two transfer windows, and was not happy at losing out on players such as Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Alex Sandro, and Virgil van Dijk.

"I think I'm a bit of a disaster to convince the club to buy the players. I think in this aspect I can improve a lot. I have to learn a lot from the other coaches, the other managers, in that aspect. I can learn a lot in that aspect," Conte said, with a laugh.

"I have to speak more with the managers who are very, very good to persuade their clubs to spend money and buy top players."

With Chelsea struggling with injuries and losses in recent weeks, Conte has found himself on the hot seat. When asked if there's anyone who could do a better job than him, he offered a summary of his strengths and weaknesses.

"I don't know. Usually? Usually in my experience, I think I reached the best results possible with the players that I have to work with," Conte answered, as quoted by Law.

"I think that I'm the type of coach who, if I have a player who is six, I bring him to an eight. If I have a player who is eight, I take him to 10. I'm this type of coach.

"My task is to try and improve every single players, in every aspect. About mentality also. About the desire, the will to fight, and the tactical aspects. Yes. My task is this. For this, I'm very good."