CHELSEA NEW MANAGER, CONTE SPRINGS SUPRISE

Antonio Conte springs surprise visit on Chelsea and will hold crunch talks with John Terry, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic





Chelsea's new manager Antonio Conte was introduced to his squad on Tuesday and will hold a series of individual meetings with those who want to leave.

Players were surprised when the Italy coach, who takes over after Euro 2016, arrived at Chelsea’s Cobham training complex with technical director Michael Emenalo.

He wants to establish who is keen to leave ahead of a potential summer rebuild, and will hold meetings with Eden Hazard, John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa.Hazard, who is still recovering from a hip injury, is unsure about staying at Stamford Bridge with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid monitoring developments. 

Matic has grown frustrated over the campaign and is ready to move on while Atletico Madrid have made it clear they would like to take Diego Costa back to Spain.

Captain John Terry would like to stay if the club hierarchy agrees but that will depend on whether Conte believes he still has a role to play at 35. 

There are also question marks over goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois though last week he said he was not seeking a move away.

Some of the staff considered it surprising that Conte turned up after training despite Guus Hiddink still working with the players ahead of Saturday's visit to Swansea. 

However, Conte is determined to get an initial picture in his mind of what he is facing prior to concentrating his efforts on guiding Italy at Euro 2016. 

He is keen to add to Chelsea's squad with Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan one of his primary targets.

Conte flew to England on a day when prosecutors in his match-fixing trial, relating to his time as Siena manager, called for a six-month suspended sentence and a £6,000 fine if he is found guilty of sporting fraud.

Conte has agreed a three-and-a-half year contract with Chelsea at £6.5million a season.