Napoli Offer Chelsea a Way Out of Paying Maurizio Sarri's £7m Buyout Fee

Chelsea may be able to sign Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri without having to pay his £7m release clause. However, it would also mean that they have to give Napoli a cut price deal on out of favour centre half David Luiz.

Reports emerged on Wednesday morning that the Serie A outfit have an agreement in place with ex-Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti to come in and replace Sarri when he inevitably leaves the club. Sarri, currently mulling over an offer from Zenit, would prefer to head to Stamford Bridge.

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This introduces a dilemma for Chelsea, who already have to shell out £9m to Antonio Conte when they eventually sack him. Even though Napoli have Sarri's replacement lined up already, the Blues still have to pay the £7m release clause to free him from his contract.

That means spending £16m just to switch managers (not including Sarri's contract and signing bonus). However, according to the Telegraph, Napoli are willing to cancel Sarri's contract free of charge as long as Chelsea sell the Italian outfit David Luiz for a cut price fee.

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Exactly how much that would be is uncertain. However, Luiz has spent much of this season on the sidelines both through injury and his falling out with Conte. A year left on his contract and at 31-years-old, his time in London appears to be over.

Chelsea wouldn't be expecting to get much more than £20m for the Brazilian, and the expectancy is that Napoli would expect to pay under £15m for his services.

Another day, another overly complex transfer scenario.