Former Chelsea boss names one Liverpool player who he wanted to sign to 'dominate' England

Former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has opened up about his career and cited that he wanted to sign the Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk in 2017 to dominate.

Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool from Southampton for £75m in January 2018, was previously a target for Chelsea. Fresh off winning the 2016/17 season, Conte had English football at his fingertips with a team that included N'Golo Kante, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois but he wanted to add a future star to his side.

Over the years, Chelsea have brought in the likes of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Wesley Fofana but none have come close to replicating the success of Van Dijk in that same period. Van Dijk would have been 25 and ready to enter the prime of his career when Chelsea were interested in the defender and Conte has revealed the two players he wanted to sign to dominate England after their title win.

“My history says that I always arrived at my clubs in a difficult situation with problems. I always build. After my first season at Chelsea, when we won the title, we could have become dominant in England. We spoke with (Romelu) Lukaku and (Virgil) van Dijk, and with those two important players we could have changed the situation.

“It’s not easy,” said Conte. “Guardiola is the best coach in the world. And then when you can match the best coach in the world with a club that can back you and can invest to bring in important players to improve the team every season because they want to stay at the top of the world, then it is very, very difficult to compete at the same level."

Since signing, Van Dijk has been regarded as one of the best centre backs in world football. Even in 2024, when some believe he was 'past his best' he still leads the Premier League's metrics for the most successful aerial duels won and is still a key figure in their title charge. With everything he's achieved at Liverpool, it's safe to say the narrative of football in England and Europe has been greatly influenced by this move.