New Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has insisted that manager Antonio Conte has been behaving "the same" as last season despite rumours of a dispute with the club's hierarchy over transfers.

The Blues have made just four signings so far this summer - albeit for a combined £127m - and last month sold Nemanja Matic to arch rivals Manchester United.

Conte has described the sale as "a great loss" for the Blues and has also intimated that he is unhappy with the club's relative lack of transfer activity.

"For us, he has been the same on the training field. One word I would describe him as is 'intense'," Cahill told talkSPORT when asked about Conte's situation. "He thinks so hard and so much about the game and the way we train is very, very intense. He doesn't switch off from it, which is the way he obviously manages, and it is fantastic for us.

"He thinks all the time how he can change things tactically and if he can do anything better. I'm sure he will be thinking even harder this season because of last year. People will be trying to work out how they are going to play against us.

"In terms of his personality, he has been the same with the boys. Obviously there have been a few incidents away from the training ground but it is hard for us as players to comment on stuff like the transfer market and the way things have gone. It has got nothing to do with us."

Having lost the Community Shield to Arsenal on penalties on Sunday, Chelsea officially begin the new Premier League season at home to Burnley on Saturday afternoon.