Sarri missing star already at Chelsea

Monaco's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas gestures during their French L1 match against Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco on January 13, 2019, at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France. PHOTO | CHRISTOPHE SIMON |

By  AFP

What you need to know:

  • Sarri is keen to recruit an experienced midfielder as back-up to Jorginho, who has displaced N'Golo Kante from the pivotal central role, but also praised the potential of 18-year-old Welsh international Ethan Ampadu.
  • "In the future, maybe," the Italian replied when asked about Ampadu's prospects of filling the back-up spot.

LONDON

Maurizio Sarri admitted the departure of Cesc Fabregas has left a gaping hole in his squad magnified by Jorginho's below-par performance in Saturday's 2-1 win over Newcastle.

Sarri said the 31-year-old Spanish World Cup-winning midfielder, who left for Ligue 1 strugglers Monaco last Friday, would have been a natural replacement for Jorginho.

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The Italian international -- a lynchpin of Sarri's midfield this season -- lost possession on several occasions against Newcastle.

"After 20 minutes he lost a lot of balls. It's unusual and I think he was in trouble," said Sarri.

"Maybe he was tired, I don't know. But if Fabregas was on the bench I think that in the second half he would have been on the pitch instead of Jorginho."

Sarri is keen to recruit an experienced midfielder as back-up to Jorginho, who has displaced N'Golo Kante from the pivotal central role, but also praised the potential of 18-year-old Welsh international Ethan Ampadu.

"In the future, maybe," the Italian replied when asked about Ampadu's prospects of filling the back-up spot.

"Playing as a central midfielder in our team is not easy.

"We need to try and try and try in training. But I think he is able to do it."

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