Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has conceded that influential midfielder N’Golo Kante has only a “fifty-fifty” chance of being fit for Wednesday night’s Europa League final against Arsenal, and that his team could be “in trouble” without him.
France international Kante has been a mainstay in Chelsea’s midfield this season, but he injured his knee during a training session on Saturday and is now up against it to be fit in time for the final.
Chelsea are already without Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in a friendly match against New England Revolution last week, with Sarri seemingly pessimistic over Kante’s chances of recovering in time.
“He has a very little problem with his left knee, but the problem is with the timing,” Sarri said.
“We are in trouble with the midfield. At the moment we have only three midfielders for three positions so we are in trouble. He is the only defensive midfielder that we have, so for us Kante is really very important. We are trying to recover him and we will try tomorrow morning.”
Kante did not join his team-mates for the start of Chelsea’s open training session on Tuesday night in Baku, but did make an appearance halfway through to take part in a group warm-up.
Sarri also downplayed growing rumours from Italy that he is in line to replace Massimiliano Allegri as Juventus manager — although stopped short of completely ruling such a move out.
“I want to think only about the final,” he replied when asked about the vacant Juventus job. “Then I have a contract with Chelsea for two years. So first of all, I will speak with them. This is not the moment.
“We are all thinking only about the final. And you all know about my opinion because my opinion is the same as at the last press conference. Today, I will speak only about the final and my players need for me to speak only about the final.”
