Antonio Conte set to lead Chelsea pre-season training as club work on Maurizio Sarri deal

Chelsea boss: Conte is set to lead training as uncertainty surrounds club ( Getty Images )

Antonio Conte is planning to go to Chelsea’s training ground on Monday for the start of pre-season as the club continue to work on appointing Maurizio Sarri as his replacement.
Standard Sport revealed last week that players have been left in the dark over who will be in charge for the first session, which involves those not at the World Cup, on July 9.
Chelsea have been in negotiations with Sarri’s representative Fali Ramadani for a few months and a three-year contract has been agreed in principle.
But Chelsea have yet to dismiss Conte, who still has 12 months left of his contract left to run and the Italian is refusing to leave without his £9.5m salary paid in full.
Sources close to players in the dressing room have revealed concerns over whether Conte has been preparing for the new season at all given the expectation that Sarri will take his job.
But Conte is ready to get back to work as normal and has prepared intense sessions for the players that are due to turn up.
Chelsea were looking to put an end to the uncertainty this week and it will be a surprise if Sarri is not appointed.
The club have already begun working on some of his transfer targets, which include Juventus defender Daniele Rugani and Aleksandr Golovin.
It is understood that some of the senior members in the squad will also look to leave Stamford Bridge should Conte remain at the helm.
One player who is unlikely to move to the capital is Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain. Standard Sport revealed in May that the Argentina striker was being offered as a potential makeweight in an attempt by the Serie A side to re-sign Alvaro Morata.

Chelsea's transfer wishlist

The speculation has increased in recent weeks with Sarri, who he played under while at Napoli, set to take over at Chelsea.
But Higuain’s brother and agent Nicolas Higuain has dismissed the possibility of the forward leaving the Italian champions.
He said: “At the moment we haven’t spoken to any other clubs, as we have a three-year contract with Juventus.
“He is very happy in the city, at the club, with the coach and the tactical system. All these things people talked about other clubs are just rumours, we haven’t spoken to anybody.At the moment, he has three years on his contract with Juventus.

Staying put: Gonzalo Higuain (Getty Images)

“Everyone knows his rapport with Sarri is wonderful and he sees him as a football father. But as far as I know, Sarri hasn’t even signed for Chelsea yet.
“Secondly, Gonzalo is happy in Turin and hasn’t received any indication from Juve, so I see no real chance of him leaving.”

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