The Chelsea board were only prepared to pay £5million for Swansea striker Fernando Llorente as they were unconvinced by Antonio Conte’s decision to pursue the Spaniard, according to the Times journalist Matt Hughes.
The 32 year old made the switch to Tottenham for £11.5m instead on transfer deadline day, and it is believed the Blues hierarchy questioned the re-sale value of the player, as well as his lack of mobility.
The club’s unwillingness to match Spurs’s asking price for Llorente seems to have increased tensions between Conte and the club. The Italian has just two senior forwards to choose from in Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi.
With Morata possibly sidelined for another five weeks, the Blues will have to rely on Batshuayi to fill in. It seems that Conte feels that losing out on Llorente has limited his attacking options, and prevented him from having a different threat that the Spaniard’s aerial ability could have posed opposition defences.
