Chelsea Boss Wants To Meet Stars Before Decision

TONY BANKS

Chelsea boss, Maurizio Sarri, will wait until he can look into the eyes of his want away Chelsea stars before trying to persuade them to stay.

The Italian, who took over as Chelsea’s new manager at the weekend, will not pick up the phone to try to convince players like Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Gary Cahill to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Belgian stars Hazard and Courtois are both being chased by Real Madrid and have each dropped hints that they could be ready for a move this summer, while England defender Cahill is also unsettled after losing his place at the end of last season. All three are not due to rejoin Sarri’s squad for another two and a half weeks, their World Cup duties with their countries having only ended at the weekend.

But Sarri is adamant he will not be on the phone to them while they are on holiday.

He said: “I don’t think I will be calling them. I would like to keep them, but a telephone call without looking them in the eyes would not give them any certainty. I want to meet face to face, talk and understand what the best thing is for everyone.

“Hazard is one of the top two or three European players. I hope I will manage to improve him. Cahill can still give us a lot.

“I would like a player to be with me on the pitch for four or five days to see what the situation is. We want to keep the strongest players.”

Chelsea are in talks with Juventus over £30 million centre back Daniele Rugani, but have been pipped by Liverpool to £67m Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin is another target, as is AC Milan defender Alessio Romagnoli, and Inter Milan midfielder Matias Vecino.

Sarri, who last night flew out with his squad for their pre-season training camp in Australia, where they face Perth Glory on Monday, said: “We will have to see how the transfer market goes.

“I spoke with the club and said that a pinch of quality is lacking in our central midfield. Otherwise they are a very high level.”