According to reports Sarri has revealed that Chelsea teenager Ethan Ampadu could replace Cesc Fabregas as the alternative for Jorginho. Cesc Fabregas, last week departed for Monaco leaving the position at the London club open, and the blues have been in the market for alternatives.
Paredes and Barella has been touted as worthy replacement for the Spaniard but the deal is yet to be completed. Now Sarri who have monitored the situation is prepared to place faith on a teenager.
In the post-match conference following Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle Sarri reveals the effect of lack of a backup for Jorginho.
He said: “After 20 minutes he [Jorginho] lost a lot of balls and it is unusual”. “So I think he was in trouble. Maybe he was tired, I don’t know, but if Fabregas was on the bench I think in the second half Fabregas would have been on the pitch instead of Jorginho”
However, the Italian tactician admitted that Ethan Ampadu has the potential to play the Jorginho way. The Chelsea boss is far from the truth as the teenager has featured in that role for his national team Wales in their Euro League of Nations competition.
Sarri went on to admit that despite the club’s current need for a specialist, in future Ampadu could be tried in the role.
‘In the future maybe but we have to work,’ he points out. ‘The player who plays in that position usually touches about 120 to 130 balls [a match] and so I think we need a specialist there.
The former Napoli boss went to compare Ethan Ampadu’s development to Hudson-Odoi, who has been excellent in recent times.
‘The bench is not really very short. It is left short for only one position at the moment because Hudson-Odoi is improving, Hudson-Odoi in one or two months will be at the same level as the other players. I hope the same for Ampadu. Of course playing as a central midfielder in our team is not easy, we need to try and try and try in training.’