Chelsea, Napoli working on ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ over Sarri, associated transfers — report

Well, we’ve hitched our rickety wagon to the horse with no name the name Alfredo Pedullà and we shall soon find out just how strong his pull really is. Can he get us safely across the treacherous river of transfer rumor nonsense, or, like many a poor beast on the Oregon Trail, will he get swept away by the swift currents never to be heard from again?

The latest inside information from the man with apparently all the exclusive Sarri news is that Chelsea and Napoli are working on a sort of gentlemen’s agreement that will encompass all other rumors, concrete, vague, relevant or tangential. This “non-belligerent” agreement will not only let Sarri out of his contract and join Chelsea for ... wait for it ... FREE, but will also extend to any potential transfer dealings, or lack thereof to be more accurate, between the clubs. Specifically, it would prevent Chelsea from spending silly money on activating the release clauses of Raul Albiol, Elsaid Hysaj, and Piotr Zielinski by not activating their release clauses.

Sounds like a win-win! Chelsea get the coach we apparently want for free and instead are forced to move on to other transfer targets than the Napoli trio (here Pedullà peddles the Rugani and Manolas stories, wherein Chelsea are once again looking at central defenders for some random reason when it’s the area of least concern at the moment). Another interpretation is that we threatened the release clauses to gain leverage over Napoli and force the free transfer. Or however we want to look at it. In the end, it’s all the same.

Of course, this still won’t happen quickly. “Another few days” is the latest estimate as the “hot days” of this week draw to a rather lukewarm close. There appear to be signs of life, but it’s all just variation on a theme.

Could there be actual light at the end of this tunnel? Or will we die of dysentery or the cold of winter before managing to cross this great plain of managerial silliness?