Arsene Wenger has said that he sympathises with Antonio Conte over squad issues, but believes Chelsea have loaned out too many players.
Poor little Chelsea don’t have enough players, apparently.
It’s been a sore point for manager Antonio Conte all summer.
The Italian feels that he needs more players at his disposal if Chelsea are to compete on all fronts this season, and hasn’t been too impressed to see his squad depth sold off.
Arsene Wenger was asked about the situation at the Chelsea, and while he could sympathise with Conte, he admitted he wasn’t that bothered about it.
“Maybe, yes he has the opposite problem (to Arsenal) but if you look at the number of players that are out on loan, they can call a few back,” Wenger said, as reported by the Daily Mail.
“I have sympathy for him. But do I feel sorry for Chelsea because they don’t have enough players? Then no.”
A big deal was made out of comparing the Arsenal and Chelsea squads after the Community Shield.
The programme for the game listed both squads, and Arsenal’s was much larger. Granted, it contained a number of young players and squad players that won’t even feature for the club this season.
Chelsea’s problem is one entirely of their own making.
On top of loaning out over 20 players every season, they sold the likes of Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah and Nemanja Matic.
Even then, they’ve spent £130m on three new players.
Conte may have not had much say in all that, which is perhaps where Wenger sympathises.
However, an unsettled Chelsea is only a good thing for Arsenal.