Antonio Conte has hinted at reverting to his preferred 3-5-2 formation at Chelsea after revealing that returnee David Luiz will play as a centre-back.

Antonio Conte

The Brazilian returned to Stamford Bridge in a move that made top of the news on deadline day as Conte finally landed the defensive reinforcement he had long desired.

“I think David Luiz is a centre-back, he’s played a lot of games in that position,” Conte said while speaking to  the club’s official website.

“I know sometimes he’s played as a central midfielder but in my mind the idea is to utilise him in the right position which, for me, is centre-back.

Conte has used a 4-4-2 formation for all of Chelsea’s matches this term. He may likely now field a 3-man defence line drawn from the pool of David Luiz joining Kurt Zouma, John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic – who are all capable of playing at centre-back.