CHELSEA boss Maurizio Sarri has refused to let Lucas Piazon leave the club on loan.
The Blues had a busy end to the transfer window, with Chelsea signing Kepa Arrizabalaga as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois.
Courtois refused to return to training in hope of forcing through his dream move to Real Madrid – a demand that was reluctantly met.
Chelsea forked out a world-record £72m fee for Kepa – breaking the honour held by Liverpool’s new No 1 Alisson – just 24 hours before the transfer deadline.
Sarri is still getting to grips with his current Blues squad following his summer arrival.
Chelsea have numerous players out on loan and Sarri is currently evaluating his new team.
And according to TuttoMercatoWeb, the former Napoli boss is refusing to let Piazon leave Stamford Bridge on loan this season.
They say Sarri has blocked negotiations, with the Italian keen to take a proper look at the attacker in the coming weeks.
TuttoMercatoWeb add that Piazon is a big fan of Sarri following his arrival in west London.
Piazon, 24, has had five loan spells following his move to Chelsea in 2012.
The forward has made just one senior appearance for the Blues during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Sarri’s men got off to a flying start in the Premier League on Saturday as Chelsea beat Huddersfield 3-0.
On the Blues’ win, Sarri said: “The game was more difficult than the result.
“If you see the result, you think it was a very easy match, but in the first half it was very difficult against physical opponents.
“We are not a physical team so for 20 minutes we were in trouble but we did very well.
“In this moment we are not at the top of our potential but we had the capacity to suffer for 20 minutes in the first half.”
Chelsea are back in action on Saturday, when the Blues host Arsenal in the Premier League’s late kick-off (5:30pm).
Sarri is desperate to mount a title charge this season, with Chelsea fully focused on domestic competitions this campaign.
The Blues failed to qualify for the Champions League last time out under Antonio Conte.
Conte was sacked last month after losing the Chelsea dressing room.
The Italian also criticised the Blues board over transfers, much to the frustration of Roman Abramovich.