LONDON -- Antonio Conte has claimed that Chelsea's climb to the top of the Premier League this season is proof that spending the most money is no guarantee of success.
Chelsea spent £123.45 million on four players last summer, of which three -- N'Golo Kante, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso -- have become key contributors to a team that remains on course to win a Premier League and FA Cup double this season.
But the Blues were only the Premier League's third-highest spenders last summer, with Manchester City (£174.05m) and Manchester United (£149.55m) both struggling to secure Champions League qualification despite significantly greater investment.
"I think this season it's very important to understand that it's not always about who spends more money who wins," Conte insisted. "Otherwise, in this league, this season the name of the team [at the top] would not be Chelsea or Tottenham or Arsenal or Liverpool.
"In every situation it's important to find the right balance. If you have to spend money, try and spend that money in the right way to take players with the right characteristics for your idea of football.
"But, for us, I repeat: this season is very important because we are trying to build something important for the present, to put the foundations down and be strong, stronger for the future. And to build, also, slowly to become a real power in the future."
Asked if he expects the Manchester giants to spend heavily again this summer, Conte replied: "Yeah, but like every year. You've seen the past. You can see that every season they spend a lot of money.
"But every single team, it's right to do what they think is best for them. I don't want to go into the situation of the other teams, other clubs, other managers. Every single club decides their own strategy.
"But, if you ask me... This season isn't the only season the Manchester clubs have spent a lot of money. Look at the past. It's normal. It's right for them to do this, to reinforce their teams, if they think this is the right way to win the title."
Chelsea are expected to pursue significant squad reinforcements as they prepare for a return to the Champions League next season, but Conte indicated that the Blues will spend only what they need to in order to address their weaknesses.
"I think that every team must understand which are their priorities, and then try and understand which are the problems they are facing now, and the problems they could have in the future," he explained. "And then try and solve the situation.
"It could be that one team needs, for example, only one or two players because they already have a very strong squad. So they don't need to spend an awful lot of money. Or you might need more players and you have to spend a lot more money. It depends upon necessity, and the moment the club is living at this moment."