Antonio Conte has issued a hands-off warning to Juventus after the Serie A side were linked with a move for Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic.
The Serbia international's place in the Blues squad has been thrown into doubt after a substandard 2015-16 season and the arrival at Stamford Bridge of Premier League winner N'Golo Kante.
But new Chelsea boss Conte has shown his support for Matic, believing that he can guide the 27-year-old on to bigger and better things.
"He is not for sale and I know with work he can become a fantastic midfielder, one of the best in the world," Conte said in a news conference ahead of Chelsea's game against Liverpool in the International Champions Cup.
"He is a very important player for me, he is very important in my idea of football. He knows this and I'm delighted by his attitude and behaviour and I see in him commitment."
Chelsea have made two signings this summer, with former Marseille frontman Michy Batshuayi joining Kante as the new faces in Conte's squad. The Italian manager, however, has said that it has been difficult to get deals done in such a "crazy" transfer market.
"This season we are seeing a crazy market. It's incredible. When you touch a player it's very difficult because you must pay a lot of money," he said. "I don't know if this situation can continue. It's very difficult for all the teams to try and buy the players.
"Now, we are starting to speak about £100 million, £120 million, £95 million, and these prices are incredible, but this is football now."
Recent reports have linked the Blues with moves for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho. Conte stressed, however, that he won't be trapped in any bidding wars for players, preferring to purchase "right" players for the right amount of money.
"It's important that we must maintain the passion," he said. "This is the most important thing, to transfer our passion and transfer it to fans and players.
"The money is important but not everything. It is important for the clubs to reach the right targets not to spend because we want to spend money."