Sarri to Chelsea won’t happen until July 3, at the earliest — report

Time to continues to tick away steadily on the summer as Chelsea continue to sit idly by. There may be things happening, slowly, in the background — maybe even with player transfers! — but at the end of the day, we have very little to show for the month of June and the second half of May. The transfer window is now officially halfway over and the situation remains unchanged at the club. If Chelsea were champions, that may be understandable (though still concerning). Now it’s just concerning. And bewildering.

These idle times have been dominated by a steady string of updates regarding Maurizio Sarri’s supposedly impending appointment at Chelsea. We’ve had our “hot days” and our imminent days, our crucial days, non-belligerent days, and even our phone call days. Personal terms had been agreed at least three times now. Sarri almost flew to London at least twice. We’ve certainly lost our minds at least once.

But Chelsea also don’t want to spend any money on this, apparently, even though that’s the only way to do it. We had hoped to get rid of Conte for free, but he said he wants to continue so he’s not going anywhere. And since he’s not going anywhere, he’s due compensation as per the contract signed by both parties last year. We’ve hoped to get Sarri for free, but Napoli ain’t no fools to let free money go. We didn’t want to pay the buyout, so we let that lapse at the end of May. No deal has been agreed in the month since and that €8m fee is supposedly back after July 1.

So what now?

Pedulla, the peddler, has been almost as quiet as the Sarri rumor mill this week. Sarri’s not even his pinned tweet anymore. But he’s back now with his latest “indiscrezione”. It’s got dates in it, so at least we know when the next delay’s going to happen.

July 2nd, Monday, was supposed to be the start of Chelsea pre-season. It’s probably fair to say that’s not happening, or if it is, it’s going to be really awkward. Would Conte be there? Is Eddie Newton going to take over training? Is everyone going to train with the U21s? So that’s probably getting pushed back. Victor Moses told the Evening Standard’s Simon Johnson this week that he has no idea when he has to report back to Chelsea. Shambles.

Anyway, Pedulla says that once Ancelotti’s contract becomes active on July 1, Sarri will be released (huh?) by Napoli. He will then fly to London on the 2nd or the 3rd, where he will sign, seal, and deliver himself to Cobham for the official announcement and unveiling.

Not exactly holding my breath here.