Conte begs for more time at Chelsea as Abramovich calls meeting

Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has admitted that it could take him four years to rebuild the team.
The former Juventus and Italy coach, won the Premier League title in his first season, but believes that the achievement was built on shaky foundations.

 “We need time. Four years? Yes, maybe. To arrive and try to fight for the Champions League, to try to fight to be the best in the world, you need time,” he said on Friday.
Conte takes his team to Wembley on Sunday to face Tottenham, with the bookies already making him favourite to be the first top-flight manager to leave his job.

Despite being Chelsea’s 14th managerial appointment in the 14 years since Roman Abramovich bought the club, Conte believes he will get the time he says he needs.
Conte added: “No-one put a gun to my head and said, ‘You win or you go away’. Sometimes you can win but you are not building something positive for your future.

“Sometimes you can win and you are preparing to disrupt yourself. Sometimes you don’t win but you are preparing yourself to be better. We have to build a solid foundation and in this moment we don’t have this solid foundation. Despite this, last season we won.

“Now I have two years left on my contract but if we have the same vision we can continue to work together. I have the vision to work. Sometimes slowly, slowly, to try to improve, to build something important.
“But if you ask me how long this path is, my answer is we need time.”

This comes amid reports that Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, has summoned a meeting with Conte.

The Russian billionaire has demanded a meeting, to address the lack of academy players deemed good enough for the first team.
Chelsea have ploughed millions into their youth set-up since Abramovich’s arrival, but the academy has not produced the senior stars he was expecting.