The Italian believes he could have built a dynasty in west London (Picture: Getty)

Antonio Conte is convinced Chelsea could have become the dominant force in English football had the club managed to bring in his top two targets in the summer of 2017.

The west Londoners won the Premier League in the Italian?s first season in charge, in large part thanks to a 13-game winning run shortly after he switched to his tried-and-tested back three.

But the following season would be less successful, with the Blues only finishing fifth – though they did lift the FA Cup – and Conte decided to part ways in the summer.

Conte had targeted two key players in the summer of 2017 following his title win, a centre-back and a striker, with Virgil van Dijk and Romelu Lukaku his top picks for the respective roles.
But instead Chelsea signed Antonio Rudiger, who was far from the finished article he is today, and Liverpool managed to prise Van Dijk away from Southampton ? though they had to wait until January and forked out a then record £75million.

Similarly, Lukaku opted to join Manchester United over Chelsea and the Blues instead signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for £58m, but the Spaniard only mustered 16 goals in 47 Premier League appearances.

Conte feels that was a sliding doors moment in his reign as Chelsea manager and is adamant the club could have enjoyed Manchester City levels of dominance had his preferred targets been recruited.

Conte later won the Scudetto at I...