Antonio Conte paying for Michael Emenalo’s mistakes in transfer market, says Ray Wilkins
Former captain reckons the blame lies with the former technical director for the Blues' dismal form
CHELSEA boss Antonio Conte has paid for the transfer mistakes of Michael Emenalo, according to club legend Ray Wilkins.
The Italian is on the brink of the sack after the Blues lost their second successive match with a 4-1 defeat to Watford last night with a number of players out injured.
And now former captain Wilkins has claimed Conte - who has moaned about his lack of say in buying players - has been left in the lurch by the club's transfers under previous technical director.
Wilkins said: “I don’t know. If you’re paying a man as much as Chelsea are paying Conte, his knowledge is far superior to someone like Michael Emenalo, who they brought in to do that job.
“The manager’s knowledge is far superior. He knows the players he wants to bring in.
“The squad is weaker this season than the one that won the league last year. No Diego Costa, no Nemanja Matic - it’s been a massive blow to Conte.”
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Tiemoue Bakayoko has come in for criticism after his poor 30 minutes against Watford that saw him sent off.
And Wilkins has blamed Emenalo for bringing in the midfielder for £40million from Monaco in the summer.
ANDREW DILLON Antonio Conte is the man who got Chelsea into this mess, he should be allowed to get them out of it
Wilkins added: “I believe so, yeah. I believe it was Michael who made the changes. To actually swap Matic with Bakayoko?
“They should have brought in Morata to play alongside Costa and they should have signed Bakayoko just to play every now and again. He is 23 years of age and he came in from the French league, which is a bit of a doddle.”