Antonio
Conte says Chelsea will only allow goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to leave if they
can find a replacement.
It is understood Bournemouth want to sign the Bosnian, who has made just
four appearances this season - all in the EFL Cup and FA Cup.
Sky sources understand Chelsea had a transfer bid rejected for Celtic's
34-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon earlier this week.
Begovic moved to Stamford Bridge from Stoke for £8m in 2015 but has found
first-team opportunities limited this season with Thibaut Courtois having
already kept 13 clean sheets in the Premier League, with the Blues eight
points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The 29-year-old is in line to make a rare start for Chelsea when Conte's
side host west London neighbours Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round on
Saturday and the manager will use that match as an opportunity to examine
the performance levels of some of his fringe players.
"Begovic will be allowed to leave if we can find a suitable replacement, but
if not, he will stay at the club," Conte confirmed.
"I'm very happy for his commitment, his behaviours in and out of the pitch.
Tomorrow's game is a good opportunity for me to see players who haven't been
involved a lot. We want to win.
"We want to avoid a replay if possible, so we must try to win the game.
After that we will think about Liverpool.
"Begovic is a Chelsea player and will start tomorrow."
Chelsea are yet to buy any players in the January transfer window and have
sold Oscar, John Obi Mikel and Patrick Bamford but Conte says he is happy
with his squad and hinted there will be no further activity at Stamford
Bridge.
"I don't know what will happen at the end of this window," he said. "The
club knows my thoughts about this.
"I am happy with the squad. There is in this window a lot of speculation - a
lot of lies and truth."
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