Antonio Conte outwitted them all on the pitch last season to win the Premier League.

But his challengers have struck back emphatically in the summer transfer market.

An unwanted hat-trick was completed for Chelsea manager Conte on deadline day, when his move for Fernando Llorente was sensationally hijacked by bitter rivals and last season's runners-up Tottenham .

And now relations between boss Conte and the champions' hierarchy could be even more strained after Llorente, Romelu Lukaku and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain combined to hand the Italian a treble blow during the now-closed window.

Conte's attempts to strengthen his Premier League champions could have gone better (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

Conte looked set to finally end his wait to sign Spanish striker Llorente from Swansea in this window, having first lined up a reunion with his former Juventus target-man in January.

Talks were revived in this window, the Swans had earmarked their former striker Wilfried Bony to return from Manchester City to replace him and everything seemed to be in place for Conte to get his man.

But all Conte ended up with was more transfer frustration as Spurs counterpart Mauricio Pochettino swooped in to nick Llorente from under his nose.

Llorente scored 15 league goals for a struggling Swansea side last season (
Image:
AFP/Getty)

Tottenham made their “out of the blue” move late on Wednesday night and wrapped up the deal in double-quick time after offering a £12m fee slightly higher than the Blues' bid.

The hijack will reignite tensions between the London rivals, four years after after Chelsea poached Willian when he was on the brink of joining Spurs.

And it completed a treble of transfer setbacks for Conte at the hands of title challengers.

Lukaku seemed set for a return to the Bridge, instead he's top of the table with United (
Image:
PA Wire)

The first came in July, when Manchester United and Jose Mourinho operated under the radar to land Lukaku from Everton in a deal that could reach £90m.

Just like the Llorente transfer, Chelsea did all the running then before losing out.

They made the first move for Oxlade-Chamberlain too, agreeing a £40m deal with Arsenal this week.

But the England international snubbed the switch to link up with Jurgen Kloop at Liverpool instead for the same fee.

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Lukaku, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Llorente weren’t the only ones who got away and there were fears earlier in the summer that Conte’s transfer frustrations would push him over the edge and force him to quit.

But he insisted, after Sunday’s win over Everton, he would stay regardless of whether he got the players he wanted or not before Thursday's 11pm deadline.

However, it will sting to watch players he coveted playing for other contenders and in position to wreck his bid to defend the title he won last season in his first year of English football.

Sources familiar with the 45-year-old, who Chelsea chiefs had already feared could never be satisfied when there was time left in the window to salvage the situation, believe he will be fuming with his superiors about how it has all panned out.

And the situation won’t be helped by the fact they in turn were unhappy with Conte for texting star striker Diego Costa to tell him he wasn’t in his plans for this season.

By contrast, Pochettino will be satisfied after adding Llorente and £23m defender Serge Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain to his squad on deadline day.