Former Chelsea bosses Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte in transfer battle over Blues star - 7M sport

Former Chelsea bosses Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte in transfer battle over Blues star



Posted Sunday, May 17, 2020 by Express.co.uk

Former Chelsea bosses Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte in transfer battle over Blues star
Former Chelsea bosses Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte in transfer battle over Blues star (Image: GETTY)

Maurizio Sarri's Juventus and Antonio Conte and Inter Milan both want to sign Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri.

Chelsea left-back Emerson is the middle of a tug of war between former Stamford Bridge bosses Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

The Blues are willing to offload the Italian international this summer as part of a mass clear out as they look to boost the transfer funds available to Frank Lampard.

Emerson, who was born in Brazil, had a spell in Italy with Roma, and switched his international allegiance after gaining Italian citizenship.

He arrived in west London in January 2018 and became a target for Sarri as soon as he moved to Juventus last summer, but the Blues refused to sell.

Sarri then tried again in January to take him to Turin, but Juve were put off by Chelsea’s demands for around £40million before allowing him to leave.

But they have since had a rethink and are now ready to let him leave, and Conte would like to take him to Inter and is looking at putting a deal together.

Conte is also interested in signing French striker Olivier Giroud, who the Blues are ready to give an extended deal in a bid to get a fee into their transfer coffers.

Emerson dismissed reports that he is unhappy at Chelsea towards the end of March.

Responding to suggestions that he wants to quit because of Frank Lampard's coaching techniques, he said on Instagram: "The world is going through a really difficult moment and there are journalists who want to spread fake news around to have content.

"I don’t speak too much, but here is my only and last statement regarding this news.

"I never said that and I think definitely the opposite of what was mentioned (without my knowledge). Respect and gratitude always. Enjoy your family."

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, meanwhile, is cautious about the Premier League's plans to return to action next month after the Bundesliga returned this weekend.

He told Sky Sports: "Everyone will handle those situations differently.

"People like Troy Deeney, you have to give the freedom to speak out, because people will be speaking from the heart.

"I think we have to upgrade that communication so players know what they're going through, and then they can make those decisions.

"My lads, I know - and I'm sure all managers will speak in the same way - they're good lads.

"Their intentions and their feelings for their families are good. They want to get here and work. They can't wait to get back and play football.

"I think the important part of my job at the moment is a lot of empathy with the players.

"You can't just say, 'lads, we're going this way', because this is a situation none of us have known.

"This is not a players' strike, it's not a player not wanting to train, or a player having an argument with another player, this is something that has affected everyone and their families.

"We're starting to plan because I think we're still waiting on a few things but we know there's a vote on Monday and there's some testing that's going to be done around that and then we're looking at being back at training early-to-mid next week.

"I've just been talking with the staff planning how phase one will look, because it's going to look quite different for us because of the restrictions."



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