Antonio Conte has admitted that Chelsea wanted to sign Virgil van Dijk.
The Netherlands international became the world's most expensive defender by signing for Liverpool for a fee reported £75million deal.
Van Dijk headed the winner in Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup home victory over rivals Everton on his debut.
Conte described the 26-year-old as a "really good player" but stopped short of confirming his interest after Chelsea beat Southampton in the Premier League on December 16, when the player was an unused Saints substitute.
"This is football, this is life," Conte said of missing out on him. "For sure he was our target but as you know, this is football.
"We can have a lot of targets but you must be able to reach those targets. The transfer market is not simple for any club.
"Liverpool bought Van Dijk to reinforce their defensive line - and I think Van Dijk is a top defender. And they spent €85million for this player.
"The same time, they sold very well - [Philippe] Coutinho - because when you sell a player for this amount of money, and then you have the rest of money to invest, to improve your team. But I think the transfer market is not simple, it’s not simple, especially if there is this amount of money."
Conte reports that Eden Hazard is in good physical condition and is ready for tomorrow's game. He says there are no other injury concerns.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)January 9, 2018
Conte's side face Arsenal in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday, with speculation continuing to build regarding the future of the two teams' respective star players in Alexis Sanchez and Eden Hazard.
Sanchez is out of contract at the end of the season, with Manchester City strongly linked with the Chile international, while Hazard is a reported long-term target for Real Madrid.
"For sure we are talking about an important player, about a good player," Conte said when asked about the Arsenal forward. "But in my opinion I think Sanchez will finish the season at Arsenal. This is my opinion, I don't know.
"I don't know what will happen during the transfer market this month because every team can rely on the transfer market to improve, to become more strong, every time can use the transfer market to improve.
"I can speak about my player and as you know very well Eden is an important player for us. Eden is very happy to stay here, to work for this club, to work for us. And we want to try to give satisfaction to our fans. I'm sure about this. For sure, Eden is an important player for us."
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