Inter coach Antonio Conte hails ‘incredible’ Romelu Lukaku and says he was 'close' to bringing him and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk to Chelsea.
The Nerazzurri coach won the Premier League in his first season at the Stamford Brigde and followed up with the FA Cup trophy in his second year.
He was then replaced by Maurizio Sarri, who guided the team to the Europa League title, and Conte admitted the Blues ‘lost momentum’ during his two years at the helm.
Inter coach Antonio Conte hails ‘incredible’ Romelu Lukaku and says he was 'close' to bringing him and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk to Chelsea.
The Nerazzurri coach won the Premier League in his first season at the Stamford Brigde and followed up with the FA Cup trophy in his second year.
He was then replaced by Maurizio Sarri, who guided the team to the Europa League title, and Conte admitted the Blues ‘lost momentum’ during his two years at the helm.
“I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the League,” Conte told the Telegraph.
“One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close.
“We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve the team by 30 per cent.
“I think maybe we lost momentum to bring Chelsea at the very top and then to stay for many years.
“It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.”
Conte feels he would have managed to help Lukaku succeed in the Premier League and sees ‘a lot of improvement’ from the Belgium international after one season with the Nerazzurri.
“For sure, it would have been a different story if I was the coach of Romelu,” Conte added. “Romelu is an incredible player and he has a lot of space for improvement.
“In one year at Inter, he had a lot of improvement because he wants to learn, and I think I’m a teacher.
“But he can continue to improve to become one of the best strikers in the world.”