Does Antonio Conte Need to Sign Any More Players at Chelsea?

Who said football managers aren't important? Well, try telling Chelsea that.

For a club with a chequered history with those appointed to lead their team, it's perhaps ironic that this summer it's the Blues who have reinforced the value of having a talented individual at the helm.

It's been barely a fortnight since Antonio Conte took official control at Stamford Bridge. Yet in his brief time in charge, Chelsea are beginning to look much the stronger for it.

From lacking any sense of direction come the end of 2015-16, the Italian has set Chelsea back on the right track. The Blues look strong again; dare we say it, they will be a force next season.

These changing perceptions haven't been influenced by Conte opening the chequebook, either. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Despite making just two signings that total around £60 million—Michy Batshauyi and N'Golo Kante have arrived from Olympique de Marseille and Leicester City, respectively—Conte has galvanised Chelsea's squad to give it more depth and strength.

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We were expecting a switch to 3-5-2 by the former Juventus boss, mirroring what he did in Turin and with the Italian national team. That raised questions about the future of some players and how they would fit in. The immediate response was that Chelsea would have to spend big to meet Conte's needs if he was to deliver.

Instead, pre-season has given us a 4-2-4 and suddenly Chelsea have depth in places we didn't realise they had. Diego Costa is supported well in attack by the arrival of Batshuayi, not to mention having Bertrand Traore in reserve. There's also an argument to suggest Eden Hazard could be the Blues' second striker in this new system, opening up all sorts of possibilities for how the attacking line will operate.

With a need for wingers, the west London club have numbers. Conte has Pedro, Willian and Kenedy to consider, not to mention Victor Moses, who has impressed in Chelsea's two outings thus far.

Then there is the case of Juan Cuadrado. The Colombian was an enigma in his first six months at Stamford Bridge, but by returning to Italy on loan with Juventus last season he restored his reputation.

Conte has made no secret of his desire to work with him. Indeed, he's confessed to wanting him in his team at Juventus. And with Cuadrado now his player, the Italian doesn't seem likely to turn him away.

What that confidence in Cuadrado does for the player remains to be seen, but we can't doubt Conte isn't going to be working hard to force the South American into a system that is more suited to his talents than the 4-2-3-1, when he failed.

Further back in midfield, Cesc Fabregas and Kante are expected to be the preferred choice in that central-midfield area. Outside of them, Conte can call upon Oscar, Nemanja Matic, John Obi Mikel and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, assuming the manager doesn't pursue the experiment of playing the latter off Costa.

Going forward, Chelsea look strong. By changing things around, tweaking the style and utilising players in a much more positive and different way to what we saw from Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink, the Blues suddenly look fresh. Conte doesn't have to change the personnel; his focus has always been on the system, and it seems to be working judging by the early signs.

Losing to Rapid Vienna in their first pre-season outing did raise the big issue Conte faces—his defence is threadbare at best, and it's here where he must add reinforcements. Branislav Ivanovic may well miss the start of the season with a shoulder injury, while Kurt Zouma is expected to be absent, too.

That leaves John Terry, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta as the recognised first-team options. Baba Rahman, Ola Aina, Matt Maizga and Papy Djilibodji are those on the fringes fighting for recognition.

Add a world-class name to that number, though, and Chelsea have a squad that screams Champions League. The surgery hasn't been as drastic as we thought it would be; the player turnover insignificant.

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It's because of this that Conte deserves so much praise regardless of how long he has been in charge. He's changed the conversation in west London through a willingness to maximise his resources, working largely with what he has.

It's a refreshing approach, especially in this summer's transfer window where we're expecting to see the world-record transfer fee for a player shattered. Already, Gonzalo Higuain has moved to Juventus for around £75 million, with Paul Pogba rumoured to be joining Manchester United for a fee that will exceed that and what Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Chelsea's development is ongoing, and with limited time to bring everything together on the back of Euro 2016, Conte has been wise. He's working with players who only 12 months ago were fresh from winning the Premier League together.

Chelsea have kept hold of their stars and now Conte is attempting to bond them in a different way.

The expectation of new signings and big money being spent is what excites fans at this time of the year. For Chelsea, it's all rather boring and it's all thanks to Conte.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes