Any competition Chelsea may have faced for Maurizio Sarri has vanished after Zenit St. Petersburg hired Sergei Semak on Tuesday.

Zenit were believed to be interested in bringing the former Napoli boss to Russia.

But their decision to hire Semak has seemingly gifted Chelsea a clear path to the Italian.

Napoli's stubbornness towards Sarri's release clause remains a hurdle for the Blues. The Serie A club are refusing to budge from the £8m fee - as reported by Goal - despite already hiring a replacement in Carlo Ancelotti.

Chelsea are yet to sack current boss Antonio Conte, who still has a year left to run on his contract.