Despite a whole big bunch of positivity on Wednesday, and some confirmation from Aurelio de Laurentiis, Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea remains an unfinished deal, with the Italian manager still in his home country waiting for the phone call from those in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday still seem rather confident the deal will get done eventually, but there are still a number of obstacles in the way, including getting rid of Conte, which has been discussed what feels like thousands of times before.
Another reason is no agreement has been found with Napoli over the amount to be paid to free Sarri from his contract, and the Italian newspaper state ‘Roman Abramovich’s men are at work to find a cheaper solution that probably doesn’t exist’.
The Russian oligarch is said to want to knock off a few million both on the severance package he owes Conte and the fee to bring his new man to Stamford Bridge, even if it seems like a lost cause since he’s not managed either.
Elsewhere in Italy, the consensus is generally the same: it’s getting closer.
Gazzetta were the only ones with any sort of detail, and, to be honest, we wouldn’t be too worried, Chelsea fans.
Unless Abramovich, for some reason, refuses to pay the money, Sarri should be on his way.
