Maurizio Sarri: Chelsea move closer for ex-Napoli boss as Jorginho linked

Last updated on 11 July 2018.From the section Chelsea114

Maurizio Sarri is in final negotiations with former club Napoli as he edges closer to taking charge at Chelsea, says the Serie A club's president.

Chelsea have also joined Manchester City in the race to sign Napoli's £50m-rated midfielder Jorginho.

Antonio Conte took charge of Chelsea's pre-season training at the weekend, despite speculation over his future.

Sarri has held talks with Chelsea, but remains contracted to Napoli, who have replaced him with Carlo Ancelotti.

"We are in the finishing line," said Aurelio de Laurentiis. "Now it depends on [Sarri] and Chelsea.

"The Sarri affair is nearly at its conclusion, it all depends on him. My lawyers have submitted papers to his lawyers."

Italian Sarri, 59, joined Napoli in 2015 and led them to second behind champions Juventus last season.

Conte, 48, has a clause in his contract that guarantees him a pay-off, thought to be £9m, for the final year of his deal.

This would be reduced if the former Italy and Juventus coach got another job, but most of the vacancies he would be interested in have now been filled.

Conte won the Premier League in his first season at the club in 2017, and the FA Cup in May this year.

Chelsea join Jorginho race

Meanwhile, Chelsea have joined Manchester City in the battle to sign Italy midfielder Jorginho.

City manager Pep Guardiola identified Jorginho as his replacement for Yaya Toure, who left the club at the end of last season.

The 26-year-old indicated a willingness to join the Premier League champions, leaving City confident of completing a deal for about £50m.

However, De Laurentiis said he had concluded negotiations with City two weeks ago but that Jorginho had subsequently told him his preference was a move to London.

"If the player would rather live in London than Manchester, I can understand that," said De Laurentiis.

"I'll have to apologise to Manchester City", he added.

"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."

Jorginho signed for Napoli in 2014 and made 36 appearances for the Serie A side last season, scoring against City in the Champions League in November.

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114 comments

Comment posted by eddaball, at 13:46 11 Jul 2018
If Sarri doesnt take the job I hope Conte walks anyway and leaves that club in the lurch. No less than they deserve after this.....Despicable way to treat a Manager
Comment posted by Laura Kuenssberg is a Tory and BBC dont care, at 14:02 11 Jul 2018
This isn’t all a bit bonkers isn’t it!?!

Have you ever seen a manager treated with so little respect? And that’s coming from an Arsenal fan who’s had to listen to all sorts of guff for the past few seasons about our old brilliant manager.

Football has officially gone bats.hit crazy!
Comment posted by dbfinch, at 13:55 11 Jul 2018
So a manager who is still employed by his current club, and is continuing as usual in his job, is set to be replaced by a manager who has himself has already been replaced, but is still contracted to his former club. Bit of a joke, really!

I do feel sorry for Conte, who hasn't really done anything wrong yet is getting shafted by Chelsea, and in a very non-discrete manner.
Comment posted by Kristian Eivind Espedal, at 13:42 11 Jul 2018
And Romans revolving door keeps on turning.
Comment posted by CarefreeCoors, at 14:24 11 Jul 2018
Chelsea fan of 31 years. The way Antonio has been treated is an absolute disgrace. The Board should be sacked; not him. Marina, Buck, etc. have proven themselves to be completely incompetent. We're now sacking a world class coach to replace him with an average one. Who would sign for us now? The Board are 100% to blame for the position we find ourselves in.
Comment posted by footiefan81, at 13:46 11 Jul 2018
If true, seems a bit disrespectful to Conte, albeit I accept he has the look of a man waiting to be paid off.
Comment posted by Jeremy, at 14:48 11 Jul 2018
Been a season ticket holder for 15 years, and this season haven't renewed....! disgusted with the board for the way they have been running the club for the last 18 months, transfer's have been a joke constant changes in management, a quality manager wins the league then is not supported the following season with new players, Why should I invest my money when the the club don't seem to want to...?
Comment posted by Aminur, at 14:01 11 Jul 2018
£9m for taking a few pre season training sessions sounds like a pretty good deal to me
Comment posted by Englands day will come, at 14:41 11 Jul 2018
the way Chelsea have dragged this out i hope Conte takes them for every penny he can.
Comment posted by Over2, at 13:44 11 Jul 2018
Give it 2 or 3 years and the door will revolve again - pathetic !!!
Comment posted by In my opinion, at 15:41 11 Jul 2018
As much as I am Chelsea through and through, the money side of the game is a disgrace to mankind. Football needs to get a grip on the reality of life. So many people with nothing in this world. Please, someone tell me if its me who is from another planet ?
Comment posted by MrBlueBurns, at 16:13 11 Jul 2018
The manager I want is one that will, and is allowed to, make more use of the very successful youth teams.

And they could start by giving Loftus-Cheek a prominent role in the first team.
Comment posted by Nessie, at 15:00 11 Jul 2018
No continuity, no soul at the club.
Comment posted by john, at 15:02 11 Jul 2018
as a chelsea fan we couldnt run a bath..were a disgrace how we treat people
Comment posted by pale-rider17, at 14:59 11 Jul 2018
Who treated Conte badly? Not the board, but our emperor, RA. He's in control, but he's lost interest - hardly the recipe for success.

Is Hazard really going to stay at a club in turmoil when Real and Barca come calling next week?

And who sold Matic, Salah, de Bruyne, Lukaku, Mata, Culdrado etc? You did.

You seem to like selling stuff, so please sell CFC to someone who cares.
Comment posted by Rovlad, at 16:00 11 Jul 2018
I’m a Chelsea supporter and this doesn’t make any sense to me and frankly is disgusting.
Comment posted by U16322705, at 15:12 11 Jul 2018
I'll give Sarri four seasons.

Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer.

At most.
Comment posted by Dezza, at 14:12 11 Jul 2018
Sadly have to agree with Wiltshire Blue - Conte doesn't want to be here any more. A breath of fresh air when he arrived but it seems the system wore him down. Can' t blame him for not quitting when there was a healthy pay-off for being shown the door.
I'll never switch my allegiance but bloody hell, our capacity for shooting ourselves in the foot when things are going well beggars belief!
Comment posted by Bob Young, at 14:03 11 Jul 2018
The Board should be ashamed regardless what you think on Conte he has been treated terribly As a chelsea supporter this Sarri guy had better be good as a matter of interest how many of you had even heard of him before
Comment posted by grahame, at 14:22 11 Jul 2018
Spare a thought for Conte in all this. Ok, he’s entitled to a massive pay off, but for months has had to put up with constant speculation about him from just about every sports media. Some of it he might have encouraged with his constant moaning. He might yet be proved right that Chelsea don’t match his ambitions especially if the sell Hazard, Willian and maybe Kante. Let’s see what happens then.