COMMENT: The information was correct. Changes are coming to Chelsea - and on the management side.
The only thing wrong for those handful of Londoners who sent the betting markets into a spin on Thursday was the identity of the personality involved. It's not Antonio Conte whose place is in jeopardy. You need to look higher up.
It's breaking across Italy today that Walter Sabatini, the former Roma football director, has been in conversation with Conte about joining him in London. Sabatini only resigned from his post at Roma last week, though the split has been a long time coming. Even before the end of last season, Sabatini wasn't shy about airing his frustrations with president James Pallotta and the club's direction.
As we've mentioned in this column, Sabatini's name was discussed extensively during the interview process between Chelsea and Conte at the backend of last season. And with the dealmaker now free, Conte has made his move.
In Spain, Leonardo, so eager to jump back into football after his ban at PSG, has also been mentioned. But after ringing around this morning, the Brazilian's name appears to just be a floater.
For now, the expertise of Sabatini is on the agenda at Chelsea - well, on the agenda of Conte, at the least. Whether Roman Abramovich, after those series of luncheons at Cobham a week ago, has been convinced that his two trusted lieutenants, Michael Emenalo and Marina Granovskaia, need outside help is anyone's guess. But we can confirm that the Italian is unhappy with the present arrangement.
How the discussions developed no doubt will emerge over the coming days. But it was Conte who initiated the talks, calling Sabatini directly to enquire about his availability. As an Italian source told Tribalfootball.com this morning, the intriguing aspect is that Sabatini may not need a formal role with Chelsea. He could simply work with Conte as an adviser, similar to what Luis Campos, the former AS Monaco sports director, is now doing with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
Conte's frustrated. Forget the antics of Diego Costa on Saturday. He can handle that. It's in his powers of control. What's eating away at the Italian is the failure of Chelsea to land his priority targets. He's baffled. How can Chelsea, among the most powerful clubs in the game, fail to tempt away Radja Nainggolan or Kostas Manolas from Roma? Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli? For a man used to working with the likes of Beppe Marotta, Fabio Paratici and Jean-Claude Blanc, as he did with Juventus - and on a fraction of the budget afforded Emenalo and Granovskaia - Chelsea's failure in the transfer market leads to only one conclusion: a lack of football expertise at the negotiating table.
Sabatini will certainly bring that. As he will inside knowledge of how to ferry away Conte's targets at Roma. The 61 year-old is a real wheeler-dealer. Harry Redknapp on steroids. If you want transfer market action, Sabatini's your man. But he has divided opinion at Roma. His detractors say he is too quick with the chequebook. Too rash when dumping players for the next big thing running around in South America.
But those in his corner point to Roma's balance sheet during his five years at the club: a clear €92 million profit from signings and sales. Which should be music to Abramovich's ears given last week's revelation that UEFA's financial fair play laws "run through the club like a stick of rock".
Speaking of revelations, it's no coincidence that in the week Conte is making contact with Sabatini we're hearing about Emenalo and Granovskaia's mooted shopping list. It's not Conte driving transfer policy, but the Blue lieutenants, who instead present the manager with a list of players he can choose from. They'd never do that in Vinovo...
Something has to give. Conte has made his move. Abramovich knows his manager's thoughts. He's known about Sabatini since that meeting on his super yacht before the Euros. It's a change that needs to be made.
INJURY TIME
On first flush it was terrible. Diego Costa. Typical Diego Costa. Carrying on. Swearing. Gesticulating. All in the direction of his manager.
The Chelsea striker is getting it in the neck today for his antics against Leicester City. Already booked, Costa gestured to Antonio Conte to take him off. To save him from a red card. When his suggestion was rejected, the striker went into Diego mode - for the whole world to see.
Okay, okay. So it didn't look good. Indeed, it looked bloody terrible. But a year ago, would we have seen the same from Costa? Could it be that Chelsea's No19 is actually recognising his weaknesses? Was his gesture, no matter how crude, made with the team in mind?
It can be argued that this was a positive from Diego. He knew he was on the edge. He feared he couldn't keep control. So he turned to his manager for help.
And Conte's response, no matter how it felt to Costa at the time, was just as encouraging. You can work your way through this. You can hold your nerve. And in the end, the manager was proved right.