Chelsea have ‘problems’ but Conte doesn’t want sympathy

– Disgruntled –

One of the main issues is Costa remaining in exile after Conte, who had grown tired of the Spain international’s attempts to engineer a transfer, told him by text message that he was no longer part of his plans.

Costa responded by leaking the text to the media, while his lawyer threatened legal action against Chelsea, who have so far failed to find a buyer for their disgruntled star.

“No news,” Conte said when quizzed on whether Costa’s situation had changed..

Conte was asked when Costa might return, but a club spokesman intervened, saying: “Nothing to report on that.”

Alvaro Morata was signed from Real Madrid to replace Costa and the Spain forward could make his Premier League debut against Burnley after coming off the bench to miss a penalty in last weekend’s Community Shield shoot-out defeat against Arsenal.

An ankle knock sustained by Pedro means Morata is likely to start alongside Michy Batshuayi.

Morata reportedly complained to Spanish media that “they’re already killing me” over scrutiny of his two pre-season games and his 15-minute appearance at Wembley.

Conte believes Morata needs time to bed in and he said: “He’s starting to understand what I want from him during the game.

“But he needs time to understand, to adapt to our style of football, above all for a striker.

“This role is more difficult to adapt to than the other roles.”