Maurizio Sarri wants Mateo Kovacic to join Chelsea on a permanent deal after this season.
The Croatian is on loan at Stamford Bridge but have an impending transfer ban, which means the Blues could find themselves unable to sign the Real Madrid midfielder permanently.
Kovacic has played 42 times for the Blues this season, assisting two goals but failing to score.
But Sarri remains keen to keep Kovacic as an alternative to Jorginho at the base of the midfield moving forward.
“He is only on loan, of course,” Sarri said. “But I’d like very much that Kovacic will stay with us. You know very well that, in that position, we have some problems because we have only Jorginho.
“In my opinion, Kovacic could become a very good central midfielder. Of course, he is not a defensive midfielder (at the moment) but, as you know, in that position I prefer a very technical player.
“In the last match, Jorginho touched 161 balls. So, for us, it’s very important for us to have big quality in that position. Big quality not for the last pass, but big quality in terms of moving the ball.”
Sarri is unhappy at playing West Ham on Monday night to begin three matches in the space of seven days.
“It is important to have fun, for me. To work without working, because for me, it’s not work.
“I am not able to understand the decision of the Premier League because we have to go to Prague as an English team.
“So I’m not able to understand why we have to play on Monday. It’s very strange. I think they could have done more for the English teams in Europe.”
