Leonardo Jardim commits future to AS Monaco amid Chelsea speculation

Portuguese manager Leonardo Jardim has reportedly refuted the ongoing speculation over his position at AS Monaco. The 43-year-old has been linked with a possible move to Chelsea over the past couple of weeks but he has now refuted those claims by citing his ambition to stay put with the Principality outfit.
“I am fortunate to have Dmitry Rybolovlev as president, we have a relationship of trust, we have been working together for four years, and he is a president of great quality: to know how to take the important decisions to make forward the club. We will continue together for the future and continue to progress the project of AS Monaco,” he said.

Chelsea are still under the tutelage of manager Antonio Conte but the Italian has widely been tipped to be sacked before the end of the month. As such, the Blues have rumoured to have begun their search for a new head coach and Maurizio Sarri appears as the front-runner for the job after parting ways with Napoli.

Reports suggest that the Italian manager has already held talks with Blues’ representatives and his stance on the situation could get clearer in the coming days, should Conte get the sack. The west London giants ended their campaign on a high note as they claimed their eighth FA Cup title at the expense of Manchester United but the club’s hierarchy are still said to be disappointed by the club’s league performance.

After winning the Premier League title during the 2016/17 season, the players looked flat over the course of the 2017/18 campaign and this eventually saw them finish fifth in the league standings. As a result, Chelsea will be playing their European football in the Europa League, which they are not accustomed to, and whoever remains in charge this summer could be handed a sizeable transfer kitty to reinforce the squad.