Maurizio Sarri reportedly agreed terms to become the new Chelsea head coach almost two weeks ago now, and once this happened, the general reports were that it was close to being completed, all Chelsea had to do was to pay his £7 million release clause. Which of course, we know they didn’t.

Then there were the reports, which I understand to be false, stating that Chelsea had gone off Sarri due to his past behaviours. This simply was not the reason, it was purely the fact they always believed that they could get him for nothing due to the circumstances.

So that was it, Sarri to Chelsea was over, even though he has already been replaced at Napoli by Carlo Ancelotti. He was now faced with a year’s hiatus, or even on garden leave from Napoli. Chelsea would then turn their focus to Laurent Blanc, Luis Enrique or Slavisa Jokanovic.

Blan would be the next to agree terms with Chelsea earlier this week, but only as a plan b option. Because Chelsea still want Sarri and believe that he and his lawyers can get him out of his contract with Napoli, or at the very least, complain to UEFA and seek their support. But Chelsea remain confident of landing their main managerial target, but in true Chelsea style, they’re attempting to do it without spending a penny.

With Zinedine Zidane resigning from his post at Real Madrid, Chelsea anticipated the interest that the La Liga club may show in their current head coach, which of course would mean they would not have to pay him off for the remainder of his contract, as he would have another job to walk into and the potential sacking would turn to resignation.

This was a short lived dream however, as according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Conte has rejected an approach from Real Madrid, allegedly due to him believing that his coaching methods would not fit in at The Bernabeu.

So if Chelsea are to do this, they’ll need to stick with their original plan of agreeing compensation with Conte’s lawyers, which has reportedly already been done.

So, will Sarri ever join Chelsea? Well, it’s ‘very close’ once again, this according to respectable Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla. He states that Sarri remains the first choice for Chelsea and that early next week everything will be done to reach an agreement.

This is of course not the first time we have heard these words. But you also need to remember that with the legalities and contract complications on both sides, this was never going to be a quick deal. Chelsea will also want to do it as cheaply as they possibly can as they are already in a number of talks for summer targets to bring in.

Will we finally see an end to this saga early next week? I wouldn’t hold your breaths just yet….

@SiPhillipsSport