Sarri wants Abraham to stay, too; hopes for Willian contract extension

Maurizio Sarri seems to be satisfied with his current first-team squad as it appears he doesn’t want anybody to leave. Previously, he had talked about it being too big, but Zouma, Batshuayi, and Bakayoko had all left on loan since.

As far as further departures, he’s not keen. He’s obviously shot down any Hazard chatter (before Hazard’s own father joined in on that side of the rumor, for once, as well), and any residual Willian rumors. He’s asked Ruben Loftus-Cheek to stay, at least until January. Now, he’s asking Tammy Abraham, who’s been strongly linked with a loan move to Aston Villa, to do the same.

“It is up to him. If he wants to remain, we are very happy with him and so I think until January he will stay with us.”

That’s a very similar line as about Loftus-Cheek, though neither youngster is in line at the moment for any tremendous amount of minutes. That situation will surely change once the schedule gets a bit busier after the international break, but it will require some patience to get there without resorting to any drastic decisions.

Meanwhile, Sarri not only wants Willian to stay — the Spanish transfer window is still open, so theoretically, he could yet leave, even if the rumors around him are of the extra-silly kind — the Chelsea head coach is hoping to be able to count on his (third-choice?) winger for a fair while longer.

“For us Willian is a very useful player so I am sure he will remain here for this season, and I hope for the future, but a new contract is out of my responsibility. I can give my opinion to the board and then the board will decide.”

-Maurizio Sarri; source: Chelsea FC

Willian just turned 30 and has two years left on his contract, so thanks to Chelsea’s one-year contract (or extension) rule for players over 30, a new deal isn’t likely until next summer, at the earliest. Still, if Sarri’s still around then — it’s Chelsea, you never know! — perhaps his good word will make a difference. Of course, considering how unhappy Willian apparently was with his rotation role under Conte, one would have to think he would first have to usurp either Pedro or Hazard in Sarri’s starting lineups, to want to even consider signing a new deal in the first place.