Chelsea coach Antonio Conte hailed the signing of
N'Golo Kante after the France international joined
from Premier League champions Leicester City on
Saturday.
Kante, 25, became Chelsea's second major signing
this month, following the arrival of Michy Batshuayi
from Marseille, after the Blues paid a reported £32
million (38 million euros, $42 million) for the
defensive midfielder.
"I want to say Kante was a target and for this
reason I'm very happy the club bought the player,"
said Conte, after watching Chelsea lose 2-0 to
Rapid Vienna in his first match in charge.
"He's a good player. He has good technique,
fantastic stamina and I like this type of player. If
you want to win then a team needs this type of
player that works hard for the team.
"All together we are working to improve the squad.
We know we have to but we prefer to wait and go
for our targets, rather than go with emotion and
take the players who don't adapt to our idea of
football."
Conte fielded an experienced side with John Terry
named as captain for Saturday's pre-season
friendly against Rapid in the Austrian capital.
The Italian also handed starts to several first-team
regulars including Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic,
Willian and Branislav Ivanovic, but the English
giants fell behind when Brazilian teenager Joelinton
scored after just eight minutes.
Chelsea academy product Ola Aina fired against the
post in the second half. However, Rapid struck
again through Tomi Correa on 82 minutes to wrap
up the victory.
"This is the first game for us but I knew it would
be very difficult after three days of double training,"
said Conte.
"I think it was a bit normal to meet these
difficulties in the game, but I don't like to lose and
it's the same for my players."
Conte, who steered an unfancied Italy side into the
quarter-finals of Euro 2016 before losing to
Germany on penalties, said Chelsea's ultimate goal
this season was to challenge for the title after a
lowly 10th-place finish last term.
"We'll work very hard because we want to come
back and compete for the title until the end of the
season. I know there is a lot of work to do but we
are ready," he said.
Posted Africa News Sports
Chapisha Maoni