Technical director linked with Chelsea job confirms departure from current club

If (when?) Antonio Conte lands Chelsea's managerial post, it seems that changes will be made not only within our squad and coaching staff but also in our back-room. Rumours linking AS Roma technical director Walter Sabatini to Chelsea started to emerge almost as soon as the Conte picture started to solidify a bit.

To add fuel to the rumours, Sabatini recently confirmed to the Italian press that he will leave Roma by the end of the season, although he dismissed the Chelsea links by claiming that he can't speak proper English.

"There's no mystery around my future. I asked [Roma president James] Pallotta to rescind my contract on June 30 and he accepted."

"Will I be heading to London? No, I speak terrible English!"

-Walter Sabatini; Source: Football Italia

Sabatini's "terrible English" wouldn't be much of an impediment for him to do his job at Chelsea — working with an Italian coach and speaking the international language of big-money transfers — and his record at Roma shows that he's pretty good at finding transfer targets that bring results on the pitch and sustainable income through sales. He was key in setting Roma up as one of Italy's strongest clubs while Serie A as a whole lost its prestige in Europe with the downfall of the Milan teams and the multiple scandals that have rocked the league over the years.

To be fair to Emenalo, he hasn't done a bad job over the years at Chelsea, overseeing several smart transfers (and several questionable ones) and developing a loan system that he and the club remain convinced is the envy of all others in England and abroad.  But with Chelsea failing to adjust to circumstances with several poor transfer windows in succession and the whole controversy around the firing of Mourinho, Emenalo getting axed from his post would be expected.  (Regardless of whether he's actually responsible for our current malaise or if he's just the fall-guy.)

In any case, if Sabatini brings along Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic from Roma to the Bridge, I will be more than happy.