Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is desperate to bring in a replacement for Cesc Fabregas – but his hopes of doing so appear to have suffered a double setback.
Cagliari’s Italy midfielder Nicolo Barella and Zenit St Petersburg’s Leandro Paredes are the two men of most interest to Chelsea following Fabregas’ recent departure for Monaco.
However, Zenit want a huge fee for Paredes, while Cagliari sporting director Mario Passetti has insisted that Barella is going nowhere during this month’s transfer window.
Various Italian media reports have quoted Passetti as saying: “Barella? There has been a lot of talk concerning Nicolo but we have always been saying the same thing every time, he won’t be leaving us at this moment in time.
“Summer sale? Well let’s see what happens in the summer but as of now, Nicolo will be staying with us here at Cagliari.
“Nicolo seems happy here and he always trains hard and plays hard for us which is important.
“Our goal isn’t to sell him since we have important objectives.
“Let’s wait and see what happens in the future and we will then take a decision.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that Zenit want £36m for Paredes and that Chelsea have offered just over £26m.