Antonio Conte: Nemanja Matic transfer to Man Utd ruined my Tiemoue Bakayoko plans

CHELSEA boss Antonio Conte has said Nemanja Matic’s move to Manchester United has hurt his plan to integrate Tiemoue Bakayoko to the Premier League.

Tiemoue Bakayoko shares quote outside London hotel

Chelsea signed Bakayoko from Monaco in a deal worth £40million and shortly afterwards Matic completed his move to rivals Manchester United.

Bakayoko is yet to appear for his new club as he recovers from a knee operation at the end of last season and it means Cesc Fabregas will partner N’Golo Kante in the early weeks of the campaign.

And though Conte is delighted to have Bakayoko at the club, he admitted he has had to scrap his idea to allow Bakayoko time to acclimatise to English football.

After the sale of Matic, we need to try to accelerate this process for Bakayoko after his injury

Antonio Conte

Conte said: "Bakayoko is a good signing for us. He is very young. 

"My idea was to give Bakayoko the right time to adapt in this league behind Matic. 

"But now c. We have Cesc Fabregas and we are trying to find another midfielder. Because now we have only three midfielders and we need another midfielder."

Tiemoue BakayokoGETTY

Tiemoue Bakayoko is yet to play for Chelsea

Conte was also forthright in his opinion that losing Matic was a “great loss” to Chelsea.

"Matic knows very well what I think about him," Conte said Sky Sports.

“The importance for me about this player, who is a really good player, a top player, very important for our team, but sometimes you must accept this crazy transfer market.

"And sometimes you must accept different decisions. But he is a great loss for us."

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?