Italian sources are confident Maurizio Sarri will be at Chelsea next week, eager to bring Piotr Zielinski, Gonzalo Higuain, Elseid Hysaj and Kalidou Koulibaly with him.
The Coach is still under contract with Napoli, even if he was fired to make way for Carlo Ancelotti, as the deal must be terminated by mutual consent under Italian rules.
Although the €8m release clause has expired, President Aurelio De Laurentiis is still demanding a similar payment to release the highly-respected tactician.
Italian sources are confident Maurizio Sarri will be at Chelsea next week, eager to bring Piotr Zielinski, Gonzalo Higuain, Elseid Hysaj and Kalidou Koulibaly with him.
The Coach is still under contract with Napoli, even if he was fired to make way for Carlo Ancelotti, as the deal must be terminated by mutual consent under Italian rules.
Although the €8m release clause has expired, President Aurelio De Laurentiis is still demanding a similar payment to release the highly-respected tactician.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Sportitalia and more, negotiations will begin in earnest on Monday and be completed next week.
After that, Sarri is requesting several players familiar with his style of football, which will be especially necessary considering most of his staff has remained at Napoli with Ancelotti.
They are believed to be Albania international full-back Hysaj (who already followed Sarri from Empoli to Napoli three years ago), Polish midfielder Zielinski, centre-back Koulibaly (who alone is valued at €100m) and Juventus striker Higuain.
When he was under Sarri’s orders, Higuain set a new all-time Serie A record for goals scored in a single season, but left for Juve when his €90m release clause was activated.
The Argentina international always maintained his fond rapport with the Coach, instead blaming President De Laurentiis for the exit.