Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti: Things would be different if we got David Luiz and Fernando Torres last summer

Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea

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Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea would be even better if they’d secured the signings of Fernando Torres and David Luiz last summer.

Both players arrived in January but the Italian revealed the duo were targets for his side last summer but were unable to arrive at Stamford Bridge until mid-season.

“Sometimes it is not so easy to buy a player at the right time and you have to wait,” Ancelotti told the club’s official website.

“It was our aim to buy David Luiz and Torres also last summer, not in January, and if that had been possible it would have been easier for them because if you buy in January it is not always easy to play well immediately.

“We were not able to do this because the other clubs – Liverpool and Benfica – wanted to start the season with these players.”

Ancelotti believes all of his signings have enjoyed positive first terms in London, and calls for his new additions to make a further impact next season.

He said: “We lost some players compared to last season but some fantastic new players arrived this season.

“Ramires didn’t start the season so well but after that he played some fantastic games and Luiz is the same. Torres had more problems but he needed to have more time here.

“Ramires, Luiz and Torres are fantastic players because they are young, they have a lot of skills, and so for the future to have these players will be very good.”

Ancelotti maintains the purchase of Torres was required and refutes claims suggesting his other attacking options have played poorly since the arrival of the former Liverpool man.

“When you have the possibility to buy Torres, you have to buy him full stop,” he said.

‘I think our other strikers didn’t have a problem since he arrived because I made some changes during some games, giving more rest to the players and more competition.

“I don’t think the performances of the other strikers were worse because Drogba scored a lot of goals, Malouda is the same and Kalou at the end of the season played really well and scored a lot of goals.

“Maybe just Anelka had less opportunity to play and was not able to have the same performance compared to when Torres was not here.”

Ancelotti has also revealed he does not intend to make drastic changes in the summer to his squad but insists his signings will improve.

“To change a lot will be dangerous,’ he said. “Next season Luiz and Torres will be better.

“Torres will have a fantastic career here at Chelsea and he will start next season with more knowledge about the squad, about the atmosphere in the club and it will be easier to play at his best.

“I don’t think this club needs a lot of changes to stay at the top level.”