Maurizio Sarri Reveals N'Golo Kante's Chances of Playing in Europa League Final Against Arsenal

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has revealed that N'Golo Kante is '50/50' to play in Wednesday's Europa League final against Arsenal.

The Frenchman had missed games with a hamstring injury before injuring his knee in a training session. There were fears that he could miss the crucial game, although he has travelled to Baku with the remainder of the squad.

Speaking to the press (via football.london) ahead of the game, Sarri insisted that Kante has shown signs of improvement in his quest to return from injury.

He said: "[Kante] had a little problem in his knee on Saturday. We are trying. It is not serious but it is the problem of three or four days. We will try, but right now we don’t know. [The odds of him playing are] 50/50, yesterday 60/40 for no, but now 50/50. He was a little better this morning."

Kante joined Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the injury table, with the England midfielder suffering an Achilles injury in a recent friendly with New England Revolution, and Sarri confessed that his side are struggling with injuries.

"We are in trouble with the midfielders. We have only three midfielders for three positions. We are in trouble. N’Golo is very important. He is the only defensive midfielder that we have. We will try to recover him. N’Golo for us, it is a problem," Sarri added.

The Italian was also asked about his future, amid reports that Juventus have agreed a deal to make him their new first-team manager. However, despite the speculation, Sarri insisted that his focus is solely on Wednesday's final with Chelsea.

He said: "I want to think only to the final. I have a contract then for two years. Now is not the moment. Our feeling is that we want to win. You know very well my opinion. It is the same of the last press conference. Today I need to speak only about the final. My players need me only to speak to the final.

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"We did a wonderful season. We are in the Champions League, we weren’t last year. We played a final in a competition where we played Liverpool and Tottenham, then lost the final on penalties to Manchester City. Then tomorrow the final of the Europa League.

"For me at the beginning it was difficult to understand my players and the mentality, but after a very difficult January, February they started to change I think. Probably I changed, I don’t know. 

"In this moment I love them. I have 22 wonderful men and players. I am really very happy. I have to consider it for the future. I have to consider that I love English football and the Premier League."