5 Chelsea players that may have no future under Sarri

After a long wait and endless dilly-dallying, cigar-smoking genius Maurizio Sarri has finally been appointed as Chelsea's head coach.

The Italian tactician has wasted no time in making his mark. The £57m arrival of his midfield lynchpin Jorginho from Napoli is the first of many expected transfers.

The futures of the club's Belgian duo; Eden Hazard and Thibault Courtois remains uncertain though. Real Madrid are said to want the duo and their exits could negatively affect the team with less than 3 weeks to the close of the transfer window.

Given the high-energy, quick-passing style which Sarri favours a.k.a Sarri-ball, a few of the current Chelsea players don't seem to have a future at the club.

Here is a look at 5 players whose futures look to lie away from Stamford Bridge:

#5 Kurt Zouma

Zouma may not have a place in Sarri's Chelsea

Much was expected of the Frenchman when he was signed from St-Etienne in 2014. His development seemed to have been coming along nicely and he looked set to become then captain John Terry's young partner in the centre of the Blues' defence.

However, the severe injury he sustained against Manchester United in 2015 halted his progress.

Last season's loan spell at Stoke City was a forgettable one as the French centre-back failed to stand out in a very mediocre Potters team.

With Sarri reportedly after Juventus' Daniele Rugani and the continued presence of Andreas Christensen, Zouma does not seem to have a future at Stamford Bridge.

He is a physically strong, rugged centre-back but lacks skills in possession and a calmness on the ball which is a hallmark of defenders in Sarri's system.

#4 Gary Cahill

Cahill may be the one to make way for Koulibaly

Cahill has been a loyal servant to the club since he joined from Bolton in 2012.

The team's captain, he has led by example a lot of times and has offered stability and reassurance at critical times.

However, he had a terrible run in what was a horrible campaign for the team last season. He was too easily beaten by several opponents and was often the weak link in the 3-man centre-back formation favoured by former manager Antonio Conte.

Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly was a trusted lieutenant to Sarri at Napoli. Chelsea has long admired the towering centre-back and a bid could be put in for his services.

With Sarri favouring a flat back 4 with two centre-backs, it's doubtful if Cahill would get game time over the likes of Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz or any new central defensive signing.

#3 Danny Drinkwater

Drinkwater's Chelsea career has been a joke

Only Mariana Granovskia could explain what Chelsea was thinking when it decided to spend £35m on the Englishman.

In what might go down as the worst transfer in a spectacularly terrible transfer campaign, Drinkwater spent a lot of time injured or on the bench.

At Sarri's Napoli, Brazilian enforcer Allan did the dirty work, Jorginho was the regista/controller while Slovakian genius Marek Hamsik was the box-to-box/goalscoring midfielder.

It's unlikely that the Englishman can fulfil any of these roles to the new gaffer's satisfaction. N'Golo Kante is bound to be the defensive midfielder of choice. Jorignho, the deep-lying playmaker, so that leaves the box-to-box midfielder role.

Ross Barkley and Cesc Fabregas are better suited for this role than the former Manchester United trainee.

Alongside Frenchman Tiemoue Bakayoko, Drinkwater looks the most likely player to be sold from the current midfield.

#2 Marcos Alonso

Alonso's lack of pace may not endear him to Sarri

A player who has been brilliant since he signed for Chelsea in 2016, his place on this list may be surprising.

While he has excelled for the club in terms of goal scoring, assists, and a bit of defensive work, he achieved this as a wingback in Conte's 3-4-3 formation.

Sarri usually prefers a more conventional 4-3-3 formation (Faouzi Ghoulam played this role for him at Napoli) with the fullbacks tasked with bombing up and down either flank.

This is not a role that Alonso has excelled in as he is considerably slower than most modern-day fullbacks.

The risk of having him isolated against the many speedy wingers in the Premier League may be one too great for Sarri to countenance.

Emerson Palmieri is a player the Italian coach knows well from his Serie A days. The naturalized Italian is more mobile than Alonso and has experience of playing regular football in various formations at AS Roma; 3-4-3, 3-3-3-1 or 4-3-3.

He is better suited for the pace and hustle of the Premier League as a left-back in a flat-four backline than his Spanish counterpart.

#1 Cesc Fabregas

Fabregas may have to give way for Golovin

What is Fabregas' best role for Chelsea? This is a question that Conte never fully answered during his 2 seasons in charge at Stamford Bridge.

This is the dilemma that Sarri will have to solve as well.

Fabregas' best days as a player were when he was given the freedom in the Arsenal midfield to do what he liked. During his ill-fated Barcelona experience, the graduate of La Masia never fully convinced in any role; false 9, regista, playmaker or even inverted winger.

He was brilliant in the title-winning season under Jose Mourinho following his £35m move to Stamford Bridge in 2014.

In Conte's 3-4-3, Fabregas was a luxury the team couldn't afford which led to him being dropped on many occasions.

While it's expected that Sarri would deploy him in the same way he used Hamsik at Napoli, it may not pan out that way.

Hamsik is a better goalscoring midfielder than Fabregas and has been brilliant at making space and key passes for the dynamic Napoli front Three (Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne, and Jose Callejon/Arkaduskiz Milik).

Fabregas may not be able to perform this critical role, as well as Hamsik did. Also, Chelsea's current front line is nowhere near as dynamic as Napoli's.

The Spaniard, whose fall from grace has been dramatic, may just be sacrificed, especially if Chelsea does secure the services of Russian wonder kid Aleksandr Golovin.