Antonio Conte reportedly pivotal in Chelsea’s Ross Barkley failure

Antonio Conte was reportedly key in Ross Barkley’s decision to reject Chelsea and it may have been a theme throughout the summer’s transfer failings.

Chelsea failed to sign a number of players this season. The most high-profile rejections were from Romelu Lukaku, Fernando Llorente, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ross Barkley, but pursuits of other targets also failed. According to The Times, this was due to Antonio Conte not having plans lined up for potential recruits.

Barkley apparently rejected Chelsea due to Conte not being too involved in the process.

"He was simply less sure about Chelsea — and his reasons shed light on why they were turned down by a string of targets over the summer. Barkley had no sense of Antonio Conte’s plans for him. The Chelsea manager was not involved at any stage of the courtship, leaving Barkley with too many questions about a move that he knows will be pivotal to his career."

If this is true, then it does explain a lot. Players like to know and, frankly, need to know the opportunity in front of them in full detail. That means Conte should be involved in the signing process and comprehensively communicating why he wants to bring a certain player in.

Window Analysis: New signings needed in January

Leaving it solely to Michael Emenalo and his team will just turn recruits off. The boss needs to explain to the target why he wants him to be part of his squad.

In Barkley’s situation, he was being brought in as a squad player. However, the club seemingly did little to sell him the opportunity. Hence, the Englishman got cold feet and chose to stay with Everton.

The report indicates that a similar approach may have been employed over the summer. Chelsea failed on several occasions to sign players they so desperately needed. Often, these targets chose other clubs over a move to West London. The likes of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho must have been presenting Danilo and Lukaku with detailed plans, informing them of how they would be used and how they could develop.

Despite winning the Premier League last season, Chelsea still cannot compete with Manchester United on stature. Meanwhile, Conte cannot compete with Guardiola pound for pound. Hence, Chelsea’s edge in the market must come from selling the opportunity to targets.

Next: Rating Chelsea’s summer signings after bizarre transfer window

Based on this report, that seems to be where they failed miserably this summer. Hopefully, the Blues will pick up their game as January approaches as they may need to make another few moves.