Chelsea
manager Antonio Conte says he is planning to use David Luiz in his "right
position" at centre-back.
Luiz re-joined Chelsea on Deadline Day from Paris Saint-Germain for £30m,
having departed the Blues for the Ligue 1 club for a £50m fee two years
earlier.
The Brazil international has played in a variety of positions throughout his
career, and despite most often being deployed in central defence he said he
is happy to play anywhere for Chelsea.
However, Conte has now confirmed he intends to play Luiz as a centre-back,
which he insists is the 29-year-old's correct position.
"I think David Luiz is a centre-back, he's played a lot of games in that
position," Conte told Chelsea TV. "I know sometimes he's played as a central
midfielder but in my mind the idea is to utilise him in the right position
which, for me, is centre-back. He's played with Chelsea previously and he
will bring a good personality."
Conte also brought in former Sunderland and Bolton defender Marcos Alonso on
the final day of the transfer window on a five-year deal, and said signing a
left-footed full-back was vital for the club.
Following the international break, Chelsea return to Premier League action
against Swansea this weekend, live on Sky Sports' Super Sunday, and Conte
admits they will need to integrate the new signings into their defence
sooner rather than later.
"We reached our targets, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso are two good signings
for us," Conte added. "Now we have to work with them because I think they
can improve our squad.
"We need to put them into our idea of football. Now we must work on our
defensive situation and with the defensive line. We need to improve our
physical and tactical condition.
"After the international break it's always very tough to restart because
many players don't arrive back until the end of the week, but we must
quickly find our concentration and be focused because we know we play a
tough game against Swansea and we want to prepare in the best way."
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