Antonio
Conte has dismissed Gianluca Vialli's claims he is "almost looking forward
to leaving Chelsea" as untrue.
Ex-Blues boss Vialli, who played alongside Conte for Juventus, told Sky in
Italy his former team-mate appeared unsettled, suggesting both he and the
club wanted to go in different directions at the end of the season.
But Conte says he has not spoken to Vialli in a long time, insisting his
compatriot's comments simply add to the speculation about his future which
has been an ongoing theme for much of the season.
Addressing Vialli's comments ahead of Sunday's visit of West Ham, live on
Sky Sports, Conte said: "It's not true, it's not true. Gianluca is a friend
but I am not talking with him for one year maybe.
"It's not true. It's very difficult for me but since this season [started] I
am listening to a lot of speculation about my future and I am hearing a lot
of people talking about my future.
"I am reading a lot of speculation about my future but [this has been] since
the start of the season, not now.
"The only thing that is true is that I am committed to this club. I have a
contract with this club. I work very hard for this club. This is the only
thing that is true. The other situations are not true."
Chelsea suffered their third loss in four Premier League games when they
were beaten 3-1 by top-four rivals Tottenham last weekend, a result Conte
described as a "bad defeat".
They have another London derby on Sunday when they host David Moyes' team,
who ended a three-game losing run with a 3-0 win over Southampton.
Conte is not underestimating the Hammers and says his players have a duty to
show "the pride, the will and the desire" to fight for a Champions League
spot until the end of the season.
"We must pay great attention [to West Ham] because they are fighting to
avoid the relegation zone and in the last period they are playing good
football and had a good result," he said.
"We want to try and get three points. It's a London derby. For us, it's an
important game to try to have an opportunity to reach a place in the
Champions League.
"It won't be easy, we have to be realistic but I think at the same time we
have to try to give all of ourselves. We have to show, we must show, the
pride, desire, will to fight until the end of the season. This must be our
target for this season now.
"Everybody has to show the pride, the will and the desire to fight until the
end of the season and this is very important for me, for my staff, for the
players to show this. I also think our supporters deserve at least this."
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