Antonio Conte has confirmed Chelsea are not making a late bid to beat Manchester United to the signing of Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez.
It has been reported that Chelsea were readying an offer for the Chile international, who is expected to move to Old Trafford.
Conte is a huge admirer of the 29-year-old, but Chelsea are not prepared to pay the £35m asking price, plus his wages in excess of £300,000-a-week, a potential signing fee of £20m and agent’s fee of around £10m.
When asked if there was any truth in Chelsea buying Sanchez, Conte replied: “I don’t know, I don’t think so. I don't want to give my opinion about the transfer market.
“I try to work with my players, I am happy to work with my players. We are working very well and I am trying to build something important for this club. This is my first task.
“If someone asks my opinion if we improve (the squad) or not I can give my opinion. But the most important thing is to work and to continue to try to improve every single player. I stop.”
Sevilla want to sign Michy Batshuayi, who has started just three League games since joining from Marseille for £33.1m in 2016.
But Chelsea will only let him leave if they find a replacement and their hopes of acquiring Andy Carroll on loan from West Ham are expected to fail.
Conte will start Batshuayi against Norwich in the FA Cup Third Round tomorrow night and added: “Michy is Chelsea’s player and is in our squad. Tomorrow he has to play. This is the truth. Until now, he is Chelsea’s player and has the possibility to show he deserves to play for Chelsea.
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“This is the reality, the truth. In the future I don’t know what will happen. The final decision is for the the club, not for me.”
