Chelsea must show ‘great patience’ with Barkley – Conte

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Antonio Conte has said Chelsea will need to show “great patience” with Ross Barkley.

Barkley, who has not played this season because of a hamstring injury, completed a move to Stamford Bridge from Everton on Friday afternoon. [phone]


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Speaking ahead of Barkley finalising his move, Conte said Chelsea had seen Barkley’s contract situation at Everton, where his deal was due to expire this summer, as a “good opportunity” to snap him up.

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“He’s very young and I think he has a lot of space for improvement. He is very strong physically and has good technique,” Conte added.

“It’s a good prospect, but at the same time it will be very important to understand when he can recover from injury, because don’t forget he had a bad injury and hasn’t been playing for seven months.”

Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Barkley, 24, during the summer but the move fell through at the last minute. 

They have since planned to target him again during this month’s transfer window. 

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