Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is worried he won’t be able to sign the players he wants before the closure of the transfer window.

There is less than a week remaining before the window shuts next Wednesday night and Conte has so far managed to close just two deals this summer.

Striker Michy Batshuayi joined from Marseille for a fee of £33million while N’Golo Kante was recruited from Premier League champions Leicester City.

However, Conte is desperate to add more bodies to his squad for the long season ahead after inheriting a team that only finished 10th place in the division last term.

Shoring up a defence which has looked shaky so far this season and remains without Kurt Zouma is Conte’s top priority before deadline day.

However, bids have been rejected for top targets Kalidou Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli to leave Chelsea short of numbers at the back.

“With this market that it is very difficult to believe in something,” Conte explained. “I have some targets and you understand that these targets are very difficult to buy.

Bid rejected: Alessio Romagnoli of AC Milan in action
Long-running saga: Kalidou Koulibaly

“This transfer market is very crazy and the targets are very difficult.

“At the end of the transfer market, I hope to have more players than now.

“I’m working with these players for only 40 days and we know we can improve a lot but it is also to important to have the right number of players in the squad to face the other teams.

“We know Chelsea is a great team and a great team must fight until the end for the title but we also know last season these players fight for 10th. It’s important not to forget this.

“I must be honest. I think that we will have a problem to reach our target but we must work to improve every day.

“I hope with this transfer market to improve the squad with some new players but we are understanding that our targets our difficult to reach.

Video: Antonio Conte's rumoured Chelsea targets

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“The most important thing is the work to improve the squad and improve the players.

“This market is very crazy and now we are seeing it is very difficult to reach our target.”

One player Conte has been able to sign this week is goalkeeper Eduardo, who arrived from Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday.

However, the Chelsea manager was quick to dismiss suggestions that the capture of the Portuguese goalkeeper will spell the end for Asmir Begovic.

“The situation is very clear,” Conte added. “We have three goalkeepers now. The first is Courtois, the second is Begovic, the third us Eduardo.

“We needed a third goalkeeper because Blackman went on loan. We are happy to have Eduardo with us.”

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