Conte blocks Begovic’s move to Bournemouth after Gordon failure

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte missed out on signing Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon, forcing the Italian manager to block Asmir Begovic’s move to Bournemouth.

Gordon, 34, was the targeted as the replacement for Begovic who was keen to leave Stamford Bridge to play regular first-team football.

Bournemouth were keen to sign Thibaut Courtois’ understudy but saw their £10million move blocked by Conte after the Blues failed to reach an agreement with Celtic for Gordon.

The Scottish club have now rewarded their goalkeeper with a new contract, offering him a pay rise and a three-year deal.

The failure to sign Gordon completed a disappointing transfer deadline day for Conte, as Moussa Dembele, another Celtic player, stayed put despite heavy speculation throughout the day after pictures emerged online of the striker in London.

The striker, who was in the capital to see a knee specialist, is a long-term target though and Conte may reignite his interest in the youngster in the summer.

Elsewhere, Chelsea completed the day with Branislav Ivanovic ending his nine-year spell at the club, signing for Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, while youngsters Charly Musonda and Kenedy remained in London after rejecting moves to AC Milan and Brazilian club Flamengo respectively.

The Blues rounded off their frustrating day at Anfield, where they drew 1-1 with Liverpool. Despite Diego Costa missing a penalty late on in the game, Conte believes his side collected a good point.

“Half and half. I am pleased, for sure, for the performance of my players because it is not easy to play against Liverpool in this moment after three defeats, it is not easy to play in this atmosphere at Anfield,” he said.

“I was a footballer so I know that when you play in this atmosphere it is very, very difficult. For this reason I am very proud for my players, for the personality they showed me.

“It is a good point, for sure. When you have a great chance with a penalty in the 76th minute, for sure you think that you could win and to take three points but I think that Diego kicked very well and Mignolet made a great save.

“Also, after this situation, we had two chances to score the second goal but it didn’t happen.

“Now it is important to recover and recover very well because today we wasted a lot of energy.

“This game was incredible, very tough, great intensity, a lot of pressure from both sides and for this reason a lot of mistakes.

“I am pleased for the performance of my players.”