Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has revealed that he would like to make midfield maestro Mateo Kovacic a permanent signing in the summer transfer window. The Croatian star joined the club on a season-long deal last summer and now Sarri has insisted that he wants to keep hold of the player and not head into the transfer market to sign a new player.
Ever since Maurizio Sarri took charge of Chelsea football club back in the summer of 2018, he has done an incredible job by replacing his fellow Italian compatriot Antonio Conte at the helm.
The former Napoli master tactician had initially instilled an attractive and effective brand of football into the West London club which was received plenty of praise and plaudits from fans and pundits across the globe. Sarri helped Chelsea reach the finals of the League Cup but eventually lost out to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on a penalty shootout.
The West London club has also booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and they look like strong contenders to go on and win the competition as well. Chelsea also occupies the 3rd place on the Premier League table at the moment and are in contention to finish inside the top 4 at the end of the season.
Amidst all these positives, the 60-year-old Sarri has stated that he would not want to bring any more players into the team and will hope that he could make a permanent deal for on-loan midfielder Mateo Kovacic in the summer. The 24-year-old is spending a season-long loan with Chelsea at the moment and has featured in 41 games across all competitions this season for the English side. Sarri also admitted that Kovacic could provide stiff competition for Jorginho for a starting berth at Chelsea.
While speaking to reporters Sarri said that he would like to keep hold of Kovacic and would not be looking for any other summer signings in that department of the pitch, “No, I want to try with Kovacic. He is only on loan, of course, but I would like very much that Kovacic will stay with us.
You know very well that, in that position, we have some problems because we have only Jorginho. In my opinion, Kovacic could become a very good central midfielder. Of course, he is not a defensive midfielder (at the moment) but, as you know, in that position I prefer a very technical player. In the last match, Jorginho touched 161 balls. So, for us, it’s very important for us to have a big quality in that position. Big quality not for the last pass, but big quality in terms of moving the ball.”
Chelsea’s decision to make Kovacic a permanent signing will depend only on whether their transfer ban by FIFA is lifted or delayed or else the player will return to the Santiago Bernabeu once his loan spell is completed. Kovacic is highly rated by pundits and fans as well but the choice of playing at Chelsea could not be in his hands despite establishing himself as a regular starter at the club.