Antonio Conte has hinted at yet more friction with Chelsea’s board over the signing of Emerson Palmieri, expressing a degree of concern over the Brazilian’s readiness.
The 23-year-old left-back is believed to be in London to undergo a medical and finalise a move to Stamford Bridge, though he will not be joined by Roma teammate Edin Dzeko after Chelsea failed to agree a deal for the Bosnian.
It had been assumed that Emerson was a signing Conte was keen on, given his emergence in Serie A, but the Italian coach has distanced himself from the decision-making process.
Though wary to talk about players Chelsea have been linked with – such as Olivier Giroud and Fernando Llorente – Conte opened up when asked about Emerson, whose move appears to be a mere formality.
He said: ‘If you remember, I said that in case the club decides to send Kenedy on loan, then we have two options: to buy another player or to work with the young players like [Dujon] Sterling.
‘He’s a young player but a very good prospect. I don’t know [about Emerson’s move], I don’t know. If there is news the club will inform you of any new players.’
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Pressed again on whether he had seen much of Emerson, Conte continued: ‘I don’t remember Palmieri because he played in Italy only last season.
‘Last season he had an important season for Roma, then he had a bad injury, broke his ligament, now he’s recovering.
‘I don’t know if he’s ready to play. I know that he played only one game in Italia Cup against Torino. But we are talking about a player of another team.’
Asked about the possibility of Dzeko joining Emerson, Conte suggested the deal was dead: ‘As you know well I don’t like to speak about the players of other teams. He’s Roma’s player. I think that he will continue to be Roma’s player.’
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