Chelsea manager Antoino Conte hailed the signing of N’Golo Kante after the France international joined from Premier League champions Leicester City on Saturday.
Kante, 25, became Chelsea's second major signing this month, following the arrival of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille, after a reported £32 million (Dh155m) fee was agreed for the defensive midfielder.
“I want to say Kante was a target and for this reason I’m very happy the club bought the player,” Conte said after watching Chelsea lose 2-0 to Rapid Vienna in his first match in charge.
“He’s a good player. He has good technique, fantastic stamina and I like this type of player. If you want to win then a team needs this type of player that works hard for the team.
“All together we are working to improve the squad. We know we have to but we prefer to wait and go for our targets, rather than go with emotion and take the players who don’t adapt to our idea of football.”
More from the Premier League:
• Kante signs for Chelsea: 'It's a dream come true' as France and Leicester midfielder joins Conte revolution
• Transfer news: Manchester United the 'leading candidate' to sign Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez
• Dimitri Payet to stay at West Ham: 'I'm staying, I love the club' ahead of their Olympic Stadium debut
Conte, 46, fielded an experienced side with John Terry named as captain for Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Rapid in the Austrian capital.
The Italian also handed starts to several first-team regulars including Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Willian, and Branislav Ivanovic, but the Premier League club fell behind when Brazilian teenager Joelinton scored after eight minutes.
Chelsea academy product Ola Aina fired against the post in the second half, but Rapid struck again through Tomi Correa on 82 minutes to wrap up the victory.
“This is the first game for us but I knew it would be very difficult after three days of double training,” Conte said.
“I think it was a bit normal to meet these difficulties in the game, but I don’t like to lose and it’s the same for my players.”
Conte, who steered an unfancied Italy side to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 before losing to Germany on penalties, said Chelsea’s ultimate goal this season was to challenge for the title after a lowly 10th-place finish last term.
“We’ll work very hard because we want to come back and compete for the title until the end of the season,” he said. “I know there is a lot of work to do but we are ready.”
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The specs
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
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Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
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Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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