Antonio
Conte says Chelsea have no intention of selling Nemanja Matic this summer,
insisting the midfielder is very much part of his plans for the new season.
The 27-year-old has been linked with a move to Serie A champions Juventus in
the national press following the £32m arrival of N'Golo Kante at Stamford
Bridge.
Matic, who has three years remaining on his current contract, has already
expressed his desire to remain at Chelsea and Conte expects the Serbia
international to play an "important" role for him.
"Matic is an important player for me, a very important player," the Chelsea
head coach said. "In my idea of football he is an important player and he
knows this.
"N'Golo, Nemanja, Cesc [Fabregas], Oscar, [Nathaniel] Chalobah and [John
Obi] Mikel, who is in the Olympics, it is not easy to choose. I want to have
this problem."
Chelsea are currently preparing for the new season in the United States and
face Premier League rivals Liverpool in a pre-season on Thursday at the Rose
Bowl in California.
Conte also expressed his desire to create a good team spirit as Chelsea look
to build a title challenge and improve on last season's 10th place finish in
the Premier League.
"In these two days we worked a lot, but we want to play a good game against
Liverpool and I want to see improvement of my players," Conte added.
"When you have a bad season like last season for Chelsea I think the blame
is a bit with all.
"For this reason it's important to create a good spirit and stay together,
both if we win or lose."
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