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Fernando Llorente has scored eight goals in 22 Premier League appearances this season.

LONDON -- Chelsea manager Antonio Conte refused to deny reports that he tried to sign Fernando Llorente in January and spoke of his "great admiration" for the striker as his side prepare to take on Swansea City on Saturday.
Llorente was widely reported to be a target for Chelsea last month as Conte sought to bolster his striking options, with Michy Batshuayi not fully trusted and Diego Costa's future briefly uncertain after a training ground row and lucrative interest from Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian.
The pair won the Serie A title at Juventus together and Conte still has huge respect for Llorente, who has scored eight goals in 22 Premier League appearances for Swansea this season.
"I know him very well because Fernando played with me in Juventus and we won together," Conte told a news conference. "He is a really good player, a good footballer and I have great admiration for him as a player and also as a man, because he is a great man. It is a pleasure for me to see him tomorrow. I wish for him the best but after this game."
Asked if reports of Chelsea's interest in Llorente were true, Conte said: "This is the past and it is not right to talk about the past. We must be focused on the present. I have great admiration because he is a great player. We must pay great attention tomorrow... and I stop."
Four of the last five Premier League goals Chelsea have conceded have been headers, and Conte revealed he has warned his players to be aware of Llorente's aerial prowess on Saturday.
"For sure you work to try to limit the characteristics of your opponent," Conte said. "Sometimes we are able and sometimes the opponent is so good they score goals [anyway], but for sure I try to give a lot of information to my players and also work together with them also to face this type of situation in the right way.
"We know the characteristics of Llorente, [Gylfi] Sigurdsson, [Leroy] Fer, the whole team of Swansea and for this reason we must pay great attention tomorrow."

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