Abramovich backs Conte, ready to give him €100m transfer budget

When Antonio Conte was announced as Chelsea’s new manager, a new swell of confidence enveloped fans who had suffered a particularly poor season under José Mourinho and then Guys Hiddink.

The Italian manager, who took his national team to the quarter finals of the Euro over the summer, managed to completely revamp Juventus in Italy, and there was hope he could do the same for the London club.

Despite a promising start, performances have waned slightly, and the 3-0 loss to Arsenal at the weekend certainly emphasised the amount of work needed at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea could be considered proper contenders again.

The setbacks have caused the European press to speculate that Roman Abramovich wasn’t very happy with the work currently being undertaken at his club, but TodoMercadoWeb.es in Spain reckon that’s rubbish.

The Spanish website claim as an exclusive the Russian oligarch has full faith in his manager, and is preparing to hand him €100m for the January transfer window.

The idea would be for Diego Costa, who Paris Saint-Germain are interested in, to go to France while Edinson Cavani would go the other way, with Conte keen on the Uruguayan.

Such an exchange would make very little sense mid-season, especially with Cavani’s erratic form and Diego Costa being joint top scorer in the Premier League.

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