There was a lot of talk a few weeks back when Maurizio Sarri was first linked with replacing Antonio Conte at Chelsea, that former player Gianfranco Zola was in talks to become his assistant at Stamford Bridge. At the time, the Chelsea legend had plenty of opportunities to deny any links, but instead he started popping up around the Chelsea training ground in Cobham even more, and avoided any talk of his future. Which made me feel that these rumours might have substance.

Now, as fresh reports via Sport Italia emerge that Napoli and Chelsea have finally negotiated a cut price deal to allow Sarri to join Chelsea, Gazzetta dello Sport have made the claim that Zola WILL be joining him as his number two.

The former Italian international made 229 appearances for the blues scoring 59 times, quickly making him a fans favourite at the club. With supporters and pundits talking about a lack of leadership at the club since the loss of players like John Terry and Frank Lampard, a person of Zola’s stature could well be the motivation needed to balance out the stuttering times at Chelsea, and help bridge the gap between the board, the players and the supporters.

Despite Chelsea winning the FA Cup last season, Conte’s reign is all but over after an inconsistent season in the league, especially after the Christmas period. He’d fallen out with the board, many of the players and was left frustrated with the clubs recruitment. This caused a black cloud to circle around the normally blue part of London, and left fans frustrated.

It has now been reported by multiple Italian sources that Sarri to Chelsea is all but confirmed, with Napoli agreeing to let him go to Chelsea at majorly cut price, thought to be around just £1 million. This will be completed providing that the blues agree not to activate the clauses on any of their players such as Elseid Hysaj and Raul Albiol who amongst others, have been heavily linked to a move to Chelsea.

But of course, Chelsea fans have heard this before in the last few weeks, but this time it has more of a feel of genuineness, and even the English press have started to report similar. The saga appears to be concluding…

@SiPhillipsSport