Chelsea not to pay the release clause of Maurizio Sarri

London, June 1: Chelsea management said they were not ready to pay Napoli the hefty compensation amount - close to $7 million - to release Maurizio Sarri, who was replaced with Carlo Ancelotti with two years left in his contract.

Sarri had held talks with Chelsea after he was replaced with Ancelotti and the Blues have been actively looking for a replacement for Antonio Conte, who was expected to get the sack soon despite leading the club to the FA Cup win.

The FA Cup win was not enough to save Conte's job as Chelsea finished fifth in the English Premier League and missed out on a Champions League berth. However, the Chelsea board will have to pay around $9 million to Conte as he has another year left in his contract.

🎙 Antonio Conte's FA Cup final press conference will be coming shortly, stay tuned... #CHEMAN pic.twitter.com/IihgIsjT4c

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 18, 2018

However, the Stamfordbridge office had expressed their desire for Conte to step down from his managerial role as they are looking to offer Sarri a two-year contract with a one-year renewal option.

The transfer talks in Chelsea too are centered on the incoming manager. Chelsea's recruitment department, overseen by director Marina Granovskaia, continue to put in place plans for new players' signings which would be greenlighted by the new head coach. There is an interest in Manchester United's Anthony Martial and Jean Seri at Nice, while Robert Lewandowski's desire to leave Bayern Munich has been noted with interest.