True Blues Sarri on his way to Stamford Bridge in £57m deal with Jorginho
Napoli claim £57m deal for coach and midfielder Conte’s Stamford Bridge exit is now a formality
Chelsea are finally set to put an end to their managerial stalemate after the Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, claimed a double deal for Maurizio Sarri and midfielder Jorginho to move to Stamford Bridge is close.
The Blues have been in negotiations with Napoli over making Sarri the successor to head coach Antonio Conte since the end of last season, but had been unable to strike an agreement.
It appears Chelsea have finally found a solution by agreeing to pay £50million, plus £7million in bonuses, to take both Sarri and Jorginho, who remains a target for Manchester City.
City have not given up on the player, having reached an agreement on personal terms with him two weeks ago, although there is a fear Jorginho could have become a pawn in the Sarri situation.
Napoli had wanted £8million for Sarri, which Chelsea were unwilling to pay after the Italian club appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. A compromise, however, seems to have been proposed involving a fee for Jorginho. Italian reports have also claimed that Cesc Fabregas could move in the opposite direction, but The Daily Telegraph understands the Spaniard is not interested in joining Napoli.
Confirming Chelsea are close to finally making a breakthrough, De Laurentiis said: “The Sarri deal is in the home stretch, it depends on him. I’ve laid down my conditions. It’s all in the hands of lawyers.
“Jorginho? We said to ourselves, ‘If Jorginho has any requests, we’ll take them into account’.
“For that, I’ll have to apologise to Manchester City. However, if the player would rather live in London than Manchester, I can understand that.
“If Chelsea are paying him even more, I can understand that too.
“Jorginho and Sarri together again? Jorginho would go to Chelsea regardless of Sarri.”
Despite the claims made by De Laurentiis, City insist it is not true that Jorginho does not want to live in Manchester.
Ironically, it was Conte who handed Jorginho, holder of Italian and Brazilian passports, his first international cap for Italy in March 2016.
But Conte was not part of the decision to make a move for the 26-year-old, who has gone on to play for the Italian national side on another seven occasions, and the claims from De Laurentiis that Sarri is now close to replacing him came shortly after the former Juventus coach had taken a training session at Cobham.
Chelsea still need to reach an agreement to terminate the final year of Conte’s contract, which is worth £9million, but that increasingly appears to be a formality.
Securing a deal for both Sarri and Jorginho would be a huge boost for Chelsea, given that the club have been stuck in limbo for some time.
Jorginho was one of Napoli’s best players in finishing second in Serie A last season to Juventus.
He can operate in a variety of different midfield roles thanks to his work rate and accuracy of passing but is generally seen as a creator.
Chelsea have also been in talks to sign midfielder Aleksandr Golovin from CSKA Moscow, defender Daniele Rugani from Juventus and goalkeeper Alisson Becker from Roma.