Antonio Conte wants to convert Ruben Loftus-Cheek into a striker

London, July 21: Chelsea FC manager Antonio Conte has made a shocking revelation that he might field young midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the striker position this season.

Loftus-Cheek had an impressive last season and scored 2 goals in 17 appearances. Pre-dominantly a midfielder the player has an impressive physique which utilises efficiently on the field.

But surprisingly, the Italian manager who joined the club this season is ambitious enough to try the player in the upfront.

Speaking to Chelsea's official website, Conte said: "Every manager has their own idea about a system of play. In this system, with two midfielders, Ruben can play close to the other forward but become a forward when we have the ball.

"He has the right characteristics to play in this position.

"Ruben is young with great potential. I like him a lot in the position of striker. He can improve a lot because he has great potential, good technique, good personality and he is good one v one."

Conte further stated that he expects 22-year-old Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi to improve as soon as possible who joined from Olympique Marseille on a five-year contract.

The Chelsea manager further added: "He has trained three days and today I wanted to see if after these three days he understood some tactical aspects.

"He can improve a lot, he can become a strong forward, he is very young but with great talent and I am happy with him."

Conte is known to implement the 3-5-2 formation on the field which required 3 center backs and 2 strikers. Chelsea currently have only 23 strikers in their squad, Diego Costa, Loic Remy and new signing Michy Batshuayi.

In order to implement his tactics Conte needs at least 2 more strikers in his squad. Chelsea are currently linked with Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata.

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