Antonio Conte to 'clear out spine of Chelsea side' that won league for Mourinho

The Italian manager has endured a topsy-turvy start to his reign at Stamford Bridge, with initially promising results giving way to some bad ones - with the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday the lowest point.

And The Sun reports that there are five big Chelsea players who Conte has decided must go: Nemanja Matic, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesc Fabregas, Oscar and Gary Cahill.

"Italian ace Conte is less than impressed with the quintet, suggesting they were purely over-performing at times under Jose Mourinho and they will never be able to replicate that form again," reads the article.

The news report - which is not substantiated by any concrete details - will come as something of a surprise to fans, but the idea of having a clearout tallies with what Conte said in the wake of the Arsenal defeat.

"We are a great team only on paper, not on the pitch," the 47-year-old grumbled.

“I prefer to be a great team not only on paper but also on the pitch. The pitch is the truth. The pitch speaks."

Usually, these sorts of headlines from the likes of The Sun promise much, but then offer up a handful of fringe squad members who you'd half-forgotten even drew their wages from the club.

Not this time. All five of the players mentioned were crucial parts of the machine in Jose Mourinho's time in charge.

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise, however: more and more often we see players struggle under one manager only to thrive under another - or vice versa. The extraordinary trajectory of Raheem Sterling at Manchester City is proof enough of that.