Antonio Conte says reports claiming that Chelsea had made a deadline-day bid for Celtic striker Moussa Dembele were no more than "speculation" and insists he is satisfied with his squad despite a lack of January signings.
Numerous reports in England suggested that the Blues had enquired about the availability of Dembele -- who has scored 20 goals in 38 appearances for Celtic since arriving from Fulham for around £500,000 last summer -- only to be told that the Scottish champions would not consider offers below £40 million.
But speaking in a news conference after Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday, Conte dismissed the reports as lacking substance.
Asked if the Premier League leaders had made a formal approach to Celtic for Dembele, Conte replied: "No. It was just speculation."
Chelsea were also reportedly unsuccessful in a late attempt to sign Inter winger Jonathan Biabiany on loan while Schalke confirmed they rejected an enquiry from the Premier League leaders for defender Sead Kolasinac, but Conte says he has confidence in his current squad to maintain their title pace.
"China is still open, it's not finished," Conte joked, before adding: "No, but I am pleased to continue with my players with this squad. We [improved] our squad with three guys, three young players: [Nathan] Ake, [Charly] Musonda and Kenedy and our market is finished.
"I am pleased because now we have the squad and it's important to be focused, to be concentrated in the second part of the season, to get back into the Champions League because, for a club like Chelsea, it's important to get back."
Chelsea were held to only their second draw of the Premier League season against Liverpool, but stumbles elsewhere from Tottenham and Arsenal ensured that the Blues actually extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points, and Conte admitted that both teams were evenly matched at Anfield.
"It was a very tough game, both teams tried to play with high intensity, a lot of mistakes, but I'm pleased because today we saw a game totally different if you compare the game when we lost at home [against Liverpool in September]," Conte said to BT Sport.
"It's not easy to come here, to play against Liverpool with this great atmosphere, but our fans pushed us a lot. We must be happy for the result.
"The best thing is to see ourselves, not the others. We stay top of the table and that is a great achievement but it is important to focus on ourselves. There are 15 games remaining and 45 points. It's important to draw against a really good team and now we must focus on playing Arsenal next week."