Maurizio Sarri is in no rush to name his Chelsea captain, but has hinted that an announcement is imminent.
With Gary Cahill, who succeeded John Terry as Blues skipper last season, out of favour under the Italian head coach, Cesar Azpilicueta has worn the armband in every Premier League game thus far.
Furthermore, he took the armband off Willian after coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Whilst those are actions of a club captain, the Spaniard hasn’t officially been promoted to that role just yet and the likes of Eden Hazard and Willian could be in the running for the honour.
However, Sarri’s attitude towards the captaincy shows that making a final decision isn’t at the top of his priorties.
That said, the former Napoli boss has hinted that he could announce the new Chelsea captain following this weekend’s London derby away at West Ham United.
“I don’t remember who was the captain at the beginning of the game. Who was the captain? Willian,” he told reporters.
“And in the second part, Azpilicueta. I don’t know. I don’t remember. I understand that in England it is important. For me it is not so important.
“I have my idea. I want to speak to the players and I want to speak to my club. It was not possible this week. Maybe it will be possible in the next week.”
Other Chelsea players who could be in the running for the captaincy are David Luiz and Cesc Fabregas following comments from Marcos Alonso earlier in the week.
“John Terry used to do this very well. In my first year he was very good for us even if he didn’t play that much,” Alonso told the club’s official website when asked ‘Who is good at lifting morale after defeat?’
“Off the pitch he played a huge part in us winning the title and I think now Fabregas, Azpi and David Luiz are all good characters in the changing room.”