Sarri was speaking at Cobham in his pre-match press conference and answered questions on his start to life at Chelsea as well as the prospect of managing the team at Stamford Bridge for the first time, among other subjects.

Here’s what he had to say, starting with the latest injury news…



'Fabregas is out of this match. I hope he will be able to be on the pitch in the next week. I’m not sure. Nothing serious, but he has a very unusual injury. He has a pain near the knee.'

Sarri was asked about managing World Cup players’ return from international duty this summer

At this level, players play a lot of games in the season. For them it’s very dangerous. Kante for physical characteristics is very quickly ready to play. He played very well in the last match. He is ready, but for the other players at the World Cup it’s a little bit different.

Arsenal lost their opening Premier League game 2-0 on Sunday

It’s difficult for everybody against Manchester City! Emery is a very good coach. He won the Europa League three times, he won in France with PSG, and I think Arsenal this season will be competitive. They will be able to fight for a place in the Champions League.

On Alvaro Morata’s state of mind at the moment

I am not worried about Morata. He is a great player. In this moment he needs only to gain confidence, but he is a great player.

Maybe he is low on confidence. He needs to score, as do all the strikers in the world. He is improving so I am not really worried about him.