Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has made a perfect start in the Premier league by winning his first two games of the season. Conte has won both of his games thanks to late strikes which have made for great excitement for the fans but not for the coach. The Italian was more concerned about how his team conceded the equaliser in the first match and the opening goal in the second. The coach believes in an approach which calls for strong and intelligent defenders and at the moment Conte feels that he still needs to get a player who fits his bill before the transfer window closes.
In his first two games, the former Juventus manager played with a back four with John Terry and Gary Cahill as his central defenders but with Kurt Zouma injured, he will need a player capable enough to form a solid partnership at the back as clearly at his age John Terry can’t be expected to play and perform each week. The name of Alessio Romagnoli has thus come to the forefront. It is certainly a name on which Chelsea are interested in after having an opening bid of £30m rejected by AC Milan.
After graduating from the youth academy of AS Roma, the young defender was brought into the first team at a tender age of 17 by former coach Zdenek Zeman in 2012/13. After spending two years with Roma, he joined Sampdoria on loan where he got to play 30 league games in the Seria A and despite his young age was marked as one of the best players of the team.
His performances caught the eye of Milan who paid as much as €25m for the defender who was only 20 at that time. At Milan, the defender convinced everyone of his potential and quality when he provided the stability at the back which the club has missed for a long time since the departure of Nesta. Last season, the performances of the young defender was one of the few positives for the Italian giants.
Romagnoli is the perfect player to target for Conte. The current Chelsea boss is well aware of the quality of his fellow countryman and Romagnoli has all the attributes to become one of the defensive greats of Italy in the future having been compared with Legend, Alessandro Nesta. It is hard to find the level of concentration displayed on the pitch by a defender of his age. Being capable of playing as a left fullback, the defender will also provide Conte the tactical flexibilities should he wish to change things at the back. Romagnoli is a player for whom you can safely pay more than the £30m which Chelsea had offered previously for he is a player destined for greatness.
