Maurizio Sarri claims that Tammy Abraham will remain at Chelsea, but admits that he has given Ruben Loftus-Cheek no promises over game time.
Aston Villa have made no secret of their desire to loan Abraham, but he has been reluctant to move to the Championship, while Chelsea rejected an audacious £25 million ($32m) bid from Tottenham on deadline day.
The 20 year old played four times in pre-season for Chelsea, including in the Community Shield, but an injury as well as Olivier Giroud's return has seen him miss out on competitive squads.
Sarri has said that it is up to Abraham whether he stays or goes, but has added that he thinks he will remain at the club after 31 August.
“I don't know. It's up to him if he wants to remain here," Sarri told reporters. "We are very happy with him, so I think that, until January, he will stay with us. I think.”
Meanwhile, Loftus-Cheek has returned to Chelsea after a successful season on loan at Crystal Palace, which earned him an England call up for the World Cup squad.
Loftus-Cheek has long been tipped to make the grade at Chelsea, but he has never fully established himself as a first-team regular. Sarri says he has stopped short of making promises to keep the 22 year old happy after leaving him out entirely against Arsenal last weekend.
“I am not able to promise anything to anybody," Sarri added. "It's up to him, I think. I usually look at the training and then I decide. So it's up to him only. I can understand everything [about frustrations], but then I have to decide. Here the problem is the bench.
"Because, in Italy, the players' list for the match is 23 players. Here only 18. So I have to decide every match the bench. Sometimes I want to have two wingers. Other times, I want to have two midfielders.
“ I have only to look at the training and then I decide. It's not so easy in this period because we play only once a week. But I told the team that, this month, they have to be patient.
"In the future, starting from September, I think we play three times three-games-a-week, so there will be space for everybody. I don't know [if I will select Loftus-Cheek]. We have training today and tomorrow, so I have to decide for this match.”
Getty ImagesUncertainty has gripped several members of the Chelsea squad this summer, with Sarri wanting to reduce the squad size, while also having seen major players targeted by other big clubs.
Willian had offers from Barcelona this summer, reaching as high as £55m ($71m), but Chelsea ended up snubbing interest from their European rivals. Willian has since said he would have definitely left Chelsea if Conte had remained but now could renew his contract under Sarri.
Sarri is unsure whether Willian will be given a new deal, although says he will give his opinion to the Chelsea board before the offer is made.
“Willian is, for us, a very useful player. I am sure that he will remain here for this season," he continued. "I hope for the future. But a new contract is out of my responsibility. I can tell my opinion to the board, and then the board will decide.”
Goal