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Antonio Conte has admitted his under-manned squad is shattered after their three pre-season games so far, writes Darren Lewis in Singapore.

With a fortnight to go until the new season — and the Community Shield against Arsenal next Sunday - manager Conte has sent the latest in a series of messages to the Chelsea board to do more summer transfer business, despite already spending £129million on new faces.

The Premier League champions were beaten easily by both Bayern Munich and Inter Milan here in Singapore after starting the trip with a 3-0 win over Arsenal in Beijing, China.

Conte claimed his men have struggled with the heat, the humidity and the schedule during their Asia Tour.

(Image: Reuters) (Image: Barcroft Media) (Image: Chelsea FC/Getty)

He said: “Now it is difficult to tell how far off we are. We have to continue to work.

“My players are very tired because they played three games in only eight days. With this temperature and humidity, players are always the same and they will be tired.

“It is important to rest and to come back to London and restart work.”

Conte brought on eight youngsters during the defeat to Inter on Saturday.

He was also forced to play new striker Alvaro Morata out wide with Eden Hazard and Pedro both injured, midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko not on tour after knee surgery and defender Antonio Rudiger late to join after playing for Germany in the Confederations Cup.

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Chelsea’s board are already working on a number of options to strengthen the squad in the wake of Conte’s repeated warnings.

The Italian is understood to have lost out, however, in the battle for Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches.

The Portuguese 19-year-old is believed to have chosen AC Milan instead of the Blues, fearing the Bakayoko transfer could see him trade the bench at Bayern for the same situation at Stamford Bridge.

(Image: Getty)

The Chelsea players flew back to London on Saturday and will be given a rest before beginning their preparations to face the Gunners at Wembley next weekend.

Despite his many concerns, Conte has urged his players to treat Sunday’s season-opener as an opportunity to get their season off to a positive start.

Conte said: “It is not a friendly game. It is an official game and there is a trophy so for us it must be important.”

(Image: Getty)

Arsenal caused an upset in May with a shock FA Cup win over the newly-crowned title winners. But Chelsea cruised to that win over the Gunners in Beijing.

Conte added of the Community Shield: “Every fixture has its own history and now we have to play another game.

“We lost the final of the FA Cup and it was a pity as we were in a position to win.

"But Arsenal won. Now this is another story, we must be able to fight and be able to win.”