Conte: Luiz and Alonso are a perfect fit for Chelsea

Chelsea may not have got their first-choice picks at the transfer market buffet, but Antonio Conte insists in David Luiz and Marcos Alonso, he has exactly what he needed.

The Blues missed out on Alessio Romagnoli and Kalidou Koulibaly having had bids rejected earlier in the window, before a £57m deadline-day splurge brought Luiz and Alonso from Paris Saint-German and Fiorentina respectively.

But Conte is adamant neither the 29-year-old Brazilian nor the 25-year-old Spaniard were panic buys.

“We reached our targets; David Luiz and Marcos Alonso are two good signings for us,” he said. “Now we have to work with them because I think they can improve our squad.

“We need to put them into our idea of football. Now we must work on our defensive situation and with the defensive line. We need to improve our physical and tactical condition.

“After the international break it’s always very tough to restart because many players don’t arrive back until the end of the week.

(Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)

“But we must quickly find our concentration and be focused because we know we play a tough game against Swansea and we want to prepare in the best way.”

Despite having an established back-four in Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Gary Cahill, and Cesar Azpilicueta, Conte is expected to shake things up with Luiz and Alonso now challenging for places.

And one thing he does not have to worry about is either player getting caught in the headlights in the Premier League, with both having experienced the pace and physicality of England’s top flight before.

“I think David Luiz is a centre-back, he’s played a lot of games in that position,” Conte added. “I know sometimes he’s played as a central midfielder but in my mind the idea is to utilise him in the right position which, for me, is centre-back.

“He’s played with Chelsea previously and he will bring a good personality.

“And the signing of Alonso is important because he’s left-footed. He played in England and for that reason he has good experience of the league.”