Paper Round: Conte admits Chelsea tried to sign Nainggolan, concedes transfer frustration

Antonio Conte has spoken of how Chelsea tried to sign Radja Nainggolan in the summer. At a press conference ahead of the Champions League game against Roma, Conte was full of praise for the Belgian.

He also expressed his frustrations at Chelsea’s lack of signings last summer. Expressing his concerns about the squad size and incapacity to absorb injuries, Conte said: “When there are injuries of this type, it’s very difficult for us…The problem is that the same players are always playing.”

Paper Round’s view: Conte did well to get the best out of a relatively small squad last season, and it was widely anticipated that the club would add depth to their squad over the summer. However, the disappointing transfer window now coupled with a spate of injuries – including N’Golo Kante – leaves them on shaky ground at a critical moment in the season. How useful could Nainggolan have been to ease the burden on Kante...?

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Gossip around Jose Mourinho’s future, with links to Paris Saint-Germain, continued into Wednesday’s papers after the Manchester United boss reiterated he does not intend to finish his career at Old Trafford. The Sun claims on Wednesday that PSG’s sporting director, Antero Henrique, who worked with Mourinho at Porto, may be a strong draw for the Portuguese. Speaking at a press conference, Mourinho dismissed speculation about the rumours surrounding him and PSG by saying: “The only thing that I said and is true and there was not misinterpretation of my words is I am not going to end my career at Manchester United.” The former Chelsea boss added that he believes Arsene Wenger is the last manager to enjoy any kind of longevity at one club.

Paper Round’s view: Having seen more than one contractual agreement end earlier than planned, Mourinho is probably pretty well-placed to have an opinion on this. He does have a point that the pressures facing the modern manager seem to become insurmountable more often than not these days, though perhaps not as much as some North London quarters might currently wish.

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The Daily Mirror reports on Wednesday that there is no replacement lined up to step in to the void left by former-manager Craig Shakespeare at Leicester City. The club’s board members were berated by Match Of The Day presenter and former Leicester and England striker Gary Lineker, who called for the club to “bring back Claudio.”

Paper Round’s view: Though the report names a number of the usual suspects – Sean Dyche, Sam Allardyce and, um, Carlo Ancelotti – it claims there is no one immediately obvious to step in. Yes, we draw the line at Ancelotti, too, but Guus Hiddink, another name touted, wouldn’t be a bad shout given the sterling job he made of restoring Chelsea to glory after Mourinho’s departure. But we kind of agree with Lineker, it’s hard not to miss Ranieri.

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The FA were steadying themselves for a Culture Media and Sport committee hearing on Wednesday in the wake of Mark Sampson’s sacking as England Women’s team head coach. Sampson was eventually relieved of his duties after “inappropriate behaviour” in a previous role came to light, but not after facing allegations of racism by team member Eni Aluko. An investigation lead by barrister Katharine Newton found no wrongdoing by Sampson, though she was criticised for having failed to speak with key witnesses – including Aluko herself. It’s now thought that Newton has spoken to more of those concerned and has updated her report, which will be made public at 2:30pm.

Paper Round’s view: Clearly an investigation which the person who has made the allegations has not been asked to contribute towards is missing something. And there may well be “political will” for that contribution to now be heard in light of Sampson’s departure. We wouldn’t want to be Martin Glenn or Greg Clarke right now.

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