It seems more a case of when and not if Maurizio Sarri whizzes through the revolving door at Stamford Bridge, and when he does, in close pursuit will be the former Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola, who is in talks to return to the club as part of the Italian’s coaching armoury. Following behind him, presumably with Antonio Conte shuffling the other way, they hope will be Dries Mertens, the 31-year-old Belgium forward currently at the World Cup, who excelled under Sarri at Napoli and sits top of his transfer wish-list.
For the Crystal Palace hierarchy, it’s another summer in which they are having to dig deep down the back of the sofa to throw extra cash at their prized asset, Wilfried Zaha. They plan on upping his contract again, for the second time in little over 12 months, to around the £120,000-a-week mark, in order to retain his services, with Tottenham Hotspur’s riches lurking.
Across north London, with Jack Wilshere departing, Unai Emery has been tapping into his old phone’s contacts, sliding down as far as Ever Banega. Like Steven Nzonzi, another player of interest, the 29-year-old Argentine shone under Emery at Sevilla and Arsenal are expected to hold talks with his agent this week.
Elsewhere, lower down the food chain, Burnley are gearing up for Europe by seeking to bolster their front-line. They have already had a paltry bid turned down for former striker Jay Rodriguez, and are now jostling with West Ham for the £8m signature of Amiens forward Moussa Konaté.
After bagging Issa Diop on Tuesday, Manuel Pellegrini is also still trying to wrap up an elongated £30m deal for Felipe Anderson, the Lazio winger. Huddersfield are set to beat Southampton to the signing of Anthony Limbombe, the Club Brugge midfielder, so Saints have swiftly turned their attention to re-raiding Red Bull Salzburg, this time for Amadou Haidara after signing Sadio Mané in 2014.
