Chelsea expect to resolve the club’s managerial situation this week, with Maurizio Sarri preparing to finally succeed Antonio Conte.

And Alvaro Morata is set to hold talks over his Chelsea future when the club’s non-World Cup players return for pre-season training on July 9.

Conte has prepared a rigorous pre-season training programme in case he remains in charge, but the expectation is still that Sarri will replace him as head coach before Morata and Co start work again at Cobham a week on Monday.

Whoever welcomes the players for pre-season training will still have the benefit of working with Chris Jones, despite the fact he has joined Frank Lampard at Derby County as first-team coach.

Jones, who was a fitness coach at Stamford Bridge for 12 years, will split his time between Chelsea and Derby until the season kicks off to help get the Blues players ready for the new campaign, before joining the Rams full-time.