We've heard this one before

Picture: Twitter/Chelsea FC

The warning signs are there: Antonio Conte is not a happy bunny. "Sometimes, I can have an impact on transfers, sometimes you can't," he told reporters after Wednesday night's Carabao Cup exit to Arsenal. "My first task is to do my job and be a coach. For sure, I don't have a big impact on the transfer market."

Elsewhere, the Italian bemoaned the lack of options at his disposal after Willian went off injured, affording Ross Barkley his Chelsea debut, albeit one after several months out, with only a training match under his belt for his new club. "Willian's injury was decisive because we don't have many players to make subsititutions. Morata was out and, after injury, I was a bit forced to decide to play Ross Barkley."

Out of context, "I was a bit forced" might sound like a reference to the apparent indifference Conte showed towards the signing of Barkley. It probably wasn't, and Conte's English skills aren't 100%, but there is certainly something simmering with him. For a manager unable to suppress rumours that he'll be off at the end of the season, he's not doing much to lift the mood.

If newspaper reports are to be believed, we're currently in the fourth transfer window where Conte's wishlist has barely been touched. For this we must remember the separation between church and state at Chelsea: Conte is 'First Team Head Coach', the club's football board is responsible for player acquisitions and disposals. Today's Times reports that Conte's relationship with board member Marina Granovskaia - the de facto managing director and the club's chief conduit to Roman Abramovich - has become so strained that they now communicate through Carlo Cudicini, the former Chelsea goalkeeper-turned assistant coach and Italian-speaking liaison. Things have worsened, according to The Times, since Michael Emanalo stepped down as technical director in November, having previously acted as a "buffer" between Conte and the board, bridging the former's responsibilities for first team performance and the board's role in squad evolution.

Picture: Twitter/Chelsea FC

Even if the headlines scream of paying inflated prices for average players, and a vast army of assets sent out on loan as a clear husbandry policy, Chelsea are, in the main, quite astute when it comes to transfers. Granovskaia is seen as being the key to that. Whatever you think of the player, reducing Everton down by £20 million for Ross Barkley is good business. However, the same probably can't be said of the £40 million spent on 23-year-old Tiémoué Bakayoko, whatever his reputation was at Monaco. But here highlights the divide between Conte and the club's board: neither of these midfielders were on his list of players to bring in. Nor was Michy Batshuayi, who has so far failed to win over Conte's trust (even when he could start as centre forward in place of Álvaro Morata, Eden Hazard has been the preferred option).

Now we have a seemingly desperate hunt for a back-up striker, with names as varied as Andy Carroll and Peter Crouch apparently in Chelsea's sights, along with a protracted effort to bring in the 31-year-old Edin Džeko from Roma, despite the player's apparent reluctance to move, the Italian club's reluctance to let him go, and Chelsea having to compromise on its policy of offering multi-year contracts to players over 30.

All of this points to dysfunction at Chelsea, but compared with the dark final days of the Mourinho era, things are anything but. But with Conte showing no signs of letting up in projecting his dissatisfaction over transfer targets and activity to the board that employs him, there is only ever going to be one outcome: either he walks in the summer, or he gets pushed, just as former manager Carlo Ancelotti (who, despite being fired by Abramovich has maintained a gracious proximity) moves back to London...with a view to returning to Premier League management.