Chelsea transfer news with Maurizio Sarri ‘confident’ club will sign top targets as Gonzalo Higuain deal looms

Top target | Gonzalo Higuain
AFP/Getty Images/Giuseppe Cacace
Vaishali Bhardwaj18 January 2019

Maurizio Sarri says he is in the dark about whether Chelsea are close to signing Gonzalo Higuain but remains "confident" club director Marina Granovskaia will land his top transfer targets this month.

The Blues are believed to have agreed a deal with Juventus to bring 31-year-old Higuain to Chelsea on loan for the rest of the season.

Sarri was keen on Higuain arriving as soon as possible to ease Chelsea's recent goal-scoring woes ahead of their trip to London rivals Arsenal on Saturday, but the transfer is thought to have been delayed as AC Milan, where the Argentina international has spent the first of this campaign on loan, seek a replacement.

But when asked on Friday about Higuain joining Chelsea, Sarri admitted he isn't sure how close the deal is to being completed.

"I don't know. I want to be clear, because I cannot help you," Sarri told reporters at Cobham.

Transfer window news and rumours, Friday 18th January

"I spoke with Marina two weeks ago, so Marina knows my opinion on how to improve the team. Then I decided to focus on the pitch, on matches and training.

"I am confident because I know Marina is working very hard, but I don't know the market at all. I want to be focused on the matches. So I don't call her every evening, otherwise I spend all my mental energy on the market.

"I think it's better if I spend all my mental energies on the pitch. So I can't help you. I don't know."

Should Higuain join Chelsea this month, it will pave the way for struggling Blues striker Alvaro Morata to join Atletico Madrid.

Sarri omitted the 26-year-old from his matchday squad against Newcastle last weekend for tactical reasons, but he revealed Morata is available for Chelsea's trip to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

"I don't know if he will play, but he is training with us, of course," Sarri said.

"It's normal, I think. It's not... of course, for him, I think it's a very difficult moment. But it's normal for a player in January to be involved in the market.

"So I think that he's available. Then, like in the last match, I can choose something different."

Sarri added that Chelsea are still working on signing a replacement for Cesc Fabregas, who joined Monaco last week.

"You know my opinion about the replacement of Cesc. We need a replacement, in my opinion. Marina knows very well my opinion. So I'm not frustrated at the moment."

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