Maurizio Sarri has insisted he does not know whether an agreement to take Gonzalo Higuain to Chelsea is close.
The Blues are working on a deal to bring in the Argentine striker, who played under Sarri at Napoli and is currently on a season-long loan at AC Milan from Juventus.
Head coach Sarri has made it clear to club director Marina Granovskaia, who takes charge of transfer negotiations, that he believes a striker and a midfielder are needed.
Sarri says he has left the matter with Granovskaia and is confident she will deliver.
Asked at a media conference on Friday afternoon if Higuain is close to signing, Sarri said: “I don’t know. I want to be clear because I cannot help you.
“I spoke with Marina two weeks ago, so Marina knows very well my opinion on how to improve the team.
“Then I decided to be focused on the pitch; on matches, on training. So now I am confident because I know very well Marina is working very hard, but I don’t know anything about the market because I want to be focused on the matches.
“I don’t call her every evening, otherwise I would spend all my mental energy on the market and I think it’s better if I spend all my mental energy on the pitch.
“So I am not able to help you. I don’t know.”
Sarri also reiterated that a midfield replacement is needed for Cesc Fabregas, who recently joined Monaco.
“You know my opinion about the replacement of Cesc – we need a replacement in my opinion,” he said.
“Marina knows very well my opinion so I am not frustrated at the moment.”
This post was last modified on 18/01/2019