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Cape Town - Chelsea
head coach Antonio Conte says supporters must give Alvaro Morata time
to adapt to the Premier League following his recent switch from Real
Madrid.
The 24-year-old striker impressed as the Blues lost 3-2 loss to Bayern in the International Champions Cup, pre-season competition this past week.
The club-record £70 million signing made an appearance the second half at the National Stadium in Singapore, where Bayern had taken a three-goal lead through Rafinha and a brace from Thomas Muller before goals from Marcos Alonso and Michy Batshuayi.
Speaking after the tie, Conte said he expected Morata to become an important player for Chelsea, but he needs time to settle in.
He said: "It's too early to speak about the impact of Morata. He has only been with us for two days and he needs time to work and find his feet and to understand our way of playing.
"But he showed a will to win, to fight and adapt to our style of play. For us, he's a good buy. We need to give him time to adapt, but we must be pleased with his performance today."
Conte added that he wasn't too concerned with his side's performance at this stage of their pre-season preparations.
"For sure, to lose three goals in half an hour is difficult," he said. "Despite this, the players' response was very good because we didn't give up.
"Our start wasn't good but I think the players showed great willingness to try and change the result. I'm not too worried because we are still in pre-season, we are working very hard and Bayern is one of the top clubs in the world."
Meanwhile media reports suggest that Conte is eager to make four additional signings before the transfer window closes on August 31 with the Italian interested in Southampton's Virgil Van Dyk.
