The Antonio Conte Chelsea era has begun and he’s named his starting XI for this evening’s pre-season clash against Rapid Vienna, with the likes of Diego Costa, Willian, Mikel Obi and forgotten defender Papy Djilobodji all included.
There are also starts for Victor Moses, who spent last season on loan at West Ham United, Branislav Ivanovic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Eyes will be on Conte, who agreed to become Blues manager back in April, but had to wait until this week to officially take charge following his exploits as Italy manager at this summer’s European Championships, leading them to the quarter-final stage.
His first press conference was on Thursday when he answered a number of topics and revealed John Terry will remain the club’s captain for the upcoming season.
The Italian has made one signing so far in Belgium international striker Michy Batshuayi, who joins compatriots Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois at Stamford Bridge, although he’s unavailable today due to his exploits at Euro 2016.
French international N’Golo Kante was confirmed as Conte’s second signing earlier in the day, so today’s midfield pairing of Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel will be hoping to impress now that they both have added competition in the engine room for next season.
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