Antonio Conte says it would be the finest achievement of his glittering career to clinch the title with Chelsea — and claimed the prize would be heading to Manchester if it was all down to money.
Chelsea have the chance to stretch seven points clear in the Premier League by beating Southampton Tuesday night and Conte said: ‘We must be proud. It wasn’t easy to have this type of season, to reach the final of the FA Cup and to fight until the end for the title.
‘It’s a good season but we want it to become a great season.’
Asked if the title would represent his proudest moment, Conte replied: ‘For sure, for sure. To win in England these days is not easy. We must be proud of our work.
‘We reached this target only through our work, work, work. It’s very important for me and also for the players, to understand that.
‘It’s not always about who spends more money. Otherwise, this season the name of the team would not be Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal or Liverpool.’
He considers Manchester United and Manchester City the big spenders and expects them to launch another summer of heavy trading. Conte said: ‘Every season they spend a lot of money. This isn’t the only season the Manchester clubs have spent a lot.
‘It’s right for them to do this, to reinforce their teams, if they think this is the right way to win the title. Every club must decide its own strategy and do what they think is best for their team.
‘It’s important to find the right balance. If you have to spend money, try and spend it in the right way, take players with the right characteristics for your idea of football. We are trying to build something important for the present and to build to become a real power in the future.’
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