Chelsea ‘plan to replace Fabregas with Suarez despite Sarri comments’

Sport 22:17 14.12.2018

Barcelona outcast Denis Suarez could be on his way to Chelsea to replace Cesc Fabregas despite Maurizio Sarri’s recent comments about wanting to keep midfielder.

Fabregas has been of rumoured interest to AC Milan, and should a move come to fruition, Chelsea will reportedly try to lure Suarez away from the Camp Nou.

Will Fabregas leave Chelsea in January? Five things to know…

  • Fabregas will see his contract expire at the end of the season and can sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in the new year.
  • Speculation of a move to AC Milan first emerged when Arsene Wenger was rumoured to be taking over from Gennaro Gattuso in October.
  • Interest appeared to die down, with Fabregas himself ruling out a January move.
  • Earlier this month Sarri also called Fabregas a “leader” and stated his desire for him to stay.
  • But, AC Milan chief Leonardo has rekindled interest, stating: “We are still evaluating the conditions.”

Fabregas’ future beyond the summer is in serious jeopardy, with the club’s hierarchy reportedly unwilling to alter their current contract policy of only offering one-year extensions to players over the age of 30.

“The club want a short contract and the players want a long contract,” Sarri has previously stated. “And so it’s difficult for this reason. I think at the end we can find a solution.”

Sarri has made no secret of his desire to keep the Spaniard in west London, believing a player of his technical ability and midfield acumen will be difficult to replace.

However, the seasoned midfielder could now be prepared to part company in the winter window having reportedly grown frustrated with a lack of playing time at Stamford Bridge, and as such, this could prompt the Blues to seek a replacement.

One name being tipped to act as cover to Jorginho is former Manchester City youngster Suarez, who is severely struggling to find a way into first-team plans in Catalonia, with Ernesto Valverde affording him just one La Liga appearance thus far.

Suarez has recently stated that he is “not happy” at the club and will consider a move away, alerting a host of European clubs, who will be queuing up for his signature come January.

Where would Suarez fit?

As part of his high-pressing system, Sarri tries to utilise the central midfield to maximum effect, which means he deploys three mobile players in the middle of the park, with each functioning together to dictate play and set the tempo of the match.

The midfield trident is the nucleus of ‘Sarri-ball’ but the problem for players like Fabregas is that the Italian is not a tinkerer; when he finds his perfect solution he is often reluctant to make any changes through risk of jeopardising the balance.

This has seen the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabregas sit on the periphery of first-team action, while Danny Drinkwater has already been deemed surplus to requirements.

At present, his preferred three is N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, while Ross Barkley is next in the pecking order and has racked up considerable minutes this term.

Should Suarez join the books then he will likely act as back-up, which makes little sense for the Spaniard, but there can be no denying his obvious talent; blessed with a good passing range, positional sense and vision, he could thrive under Sarri should the Italian give him the minutes.

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