Maurizio Sarri wants Chelsea to sign a new winger rather than the striker they are targeting in the January market.
The Blues have been chasing a move for Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, currently on loan at AC Milan, and are also keen on Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson.
Both Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud have struggled for goals this season, contributing 12 between them in all competitions, and with the latter potentially facing a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury Sarri’s greatest need appears to be among his striking corps.
However the Italian has regularly used Eden Hazard in central areas, despite the Belgian preferring his customary berth on the left flank, and indicated he would continue to do so and instead press for another wide player to be added to a squad struggling with injuries.
“I have the option with Hazard in this [central] position,” said Sarri. "We have Morata and Hazard who can play very well in this position as we have seen in the last two or three matches.
“At the moment I don’t need another striker. Maybe another winger.
“Now we are in trouble with the injuries of Pedro, [Callum] Hudson-Odoi, [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, so I have the option for striker but have no option for wingers.”
Sarri’s wide options could shrink further if Hudson-Odoi becomes the latest young English star to head to Germany, with Bayern Munich heavily linked with a £20million January move.
Hudson-Odoi has shone in the Chelsea youth teams for several years and won the Under-17 World Cup with England in 2017. However the winger has found first team opportunities hard to come by under Sarri, appearing on only six occasions and completing just 42 minutes in the Premier League.
The 18-year-old would not be the first promising English youngster to find the door to the first-team barred at Stamford Bridge but Sarri insists he has faith in his academy.
The assessment of Hudson-Odoi from the former Napoli coach was particularly glowing. “I think that he’s a very good player. The potential is to become a great player.
"Now he has to improve. With the ball he is a very good player. He has to improve, I think, with movement without the ball. As a winger he has to improve in the defensive ways.
“But he has the potential to become a very, very important player not only for English football but for European football.
“It’s not easy at this level to take young players from the academy and they’re ready to play. Not only here but everywhere in Europe.
"Sometimes there are one, two players in Barcelona from the academy, sometimes one, two in Real Madrid, zero in Juventus, zero in Paris Saint-Germain. It’s not easy.
"We are lucky. We have [Ethan] Ampadu, [Andreas] Christensen, Hudson-Odoi. We have three or four players from the Academy. It’s really very good.
“In Europe there are few players of 18 with eight matches at this level. Hudson-Odoi this season played six, seven official matches. He is not lucky, he is good.”
