Maurizio Sarri distanced himself from the speculation surrounding Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois during his opening press conference as Chelsea manager. Both Hazard and Courtois have been heavily linked with moves to Real Madrid this summer and the Chelsea duo are yet to return to London following Belgium’s World Cup campaign. Chelsea have set an asking price of £200million for Hazard, while Courtois could complete a move to the Bernabeu for a fee of around £31million ahead of the 2018/19 season. Sarri claimed on Wednesday afternoon that transfer rumours ‘bore’ him, but did admit that it’s important for Chelsea to keep hold of their top players.
Asked about the speculation surrounding Hazard and Courtois, Sarri responded: ‘Clearly we would always like to keep our strongest players. ‘This is what any manager wants and this is what any club wants to do but then well see how the market goes over the next few days. ‘I must clarify I feel much more a pitch manager than a general manager. ‘I think that I’m one of a few managers who is bored by the transfer market. I don’t want to talk about it and I’m not that interested in it. ‘Our task as managers is growing the players we have.’
Sarri revealed that he will not be calling Hazard to try and dissuade the Belgian from joining Madrid. ‘I don’t think so, honestly,’ the former Napoli boss said. ‘Because the players you are referring to are clearly very high level players and I would like to keep them in my squad. ‘But a telephone call without looking them in the eyes would not give me any certainty. I want to meet them face-to-face and talk to them and see what the best thing to do would be for everybody. ‘Before that I would also like a player to come on the pitch with me for four or five days to get a clear idea of what the picture is.’