Chelsea took a step further in their seemingly destined march towards the title this season as they saw off a resilient and surprisingly adventurous Hull City to win the match 2-0 and make it 15 wins in the last 16 and the loss against Tottenham Hotspur seems to have been a minor blip on proceedings.
Antonio Conte has transformed this Chelsea side into a winning machine and the same squad which was unable to leave any impression in the League last season and finished 10th, seem to have found their mojo back with a couple of changes in personnel and a tactical tweak or two.
Although they might be 8 points clear at the top now, the start wasn’t the rosiest for the former Italy boss who had to rely on the late heroics of Diego Costa in a number of matches to keep Chelsea in and around the Top 4 initially. Even the pundits had not anticipated such a turnaround and even Sir Alex Ferguson had failed to include them in his list of probably Top 4 clubs at the end of the season.
But Conte has done what he was brought into doing. Bring perfect balance to the team. He has made them extremely difficult to beat and with the likes of Hazard, Costa and Pedro in scintillating form up top, things have fallen into place quite well. Kante has been instrumental in the middle of the park and alongside him, Matic and Fabregas have been competent whoever has been afforded the chance.
But with the need to sustain this momentum and also to prepare for a more arduous next season, there will certainly be signings. Either in January or in the summer. Chelsea have a good and effective first team but in light of injuries or suspensions to anyone in the first team, there is not much to fall back upon for Conte. And to add to that the rumours of Ivanovic making an exit, there is a distinct need to strengthen on the right-hand side at the back.
According to reports, Chelsea have joined Manchester United in their pursuit of Benfica right-back Nelson Semedo and are determined to add the right back to their squad. According to the reports, Nelson Semedo will cost Chelsea around £35m.
Semedo has spent his entire professional career at the Estadio da Luz, making 42 senior appearances for Benfica, and United are apparently ready to trigger his release clause.
At the age of 23, he has already established himself as one of the brightest prospects at right-back. His style has been likened to Dani Alves. A great dribbler and a really solid crosser of the ball, he is known to support the attack and push forward often.
He has worked on his defensive attributes lately and it is said that Conte is really keen on him to challenge Victor Moses and also as a replacement for the out of favour Ivanovic.
