Life is good for the Chelsea fans in the Transfer Tavern right now, who’ve watched on in wide-eyed joy as Antonio Conte’s side storm up the league. 

While the Italian was seemingly under some pressure at Stamford Bridge earlier on this season, the Blues are now reaping the rewards of his tactical tinkering and sit pretty atop the Premier League.

Luckily for them, Roman Abramovich held off making any knee-jerk reactions to Chelsea’s slump earlier in the campaign and the former Juventus and Italy coach soon moved to put that behind him.

Having improved the team in the short-term, the 47-year-old now must be given the sufficient backing to improve them going forward for many years.

In order to do so, he’ll require even more backing from his Russian boss in every aspect if the west London titans are to keep up with the long-term projects undertaken at Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City.

With that in mind, here are TWO things Conte must ask from Abramovich in January.

Keeping the backups

January is likely to see desperate suitors make overly expensive moves for stars not getting much in the way of game time and Chelsea certainly have their fair share of them.

The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Asmir Begovic and Oscar have all been touted as potential departures, though it’s important the Blues keep most of them at least.

With no Champions League to contend with, having a large squad with plenty of options could really give them the edge in the title race.

Defensive backing

Clearly, Conte has brought a solidity to Chelsea’s previously leaky backline, though it is unclear as to whether or not his 3-4-3 system is sustainable in the long run.

It may well be, though surely more defensive additions are required to truly morph this team into one capable of challenging for years to come.

Having had to turn to a last-minute David Luiz deal in the summer (though he’s working thus far), Conte needs sufficient funds to bring in the type of defenders he really wants.