While the end of the World Cup usually signals when clubs can kick their pre-season up a gear, Chelsea are only just starting theirs.

That's simply because they still haven't got the manager they want as their pursuit of Maurizio Sarri ran into problems.

It was clear that Sarri wouldn't be Napoli coach next season, with Chelsea his rumoured destination, although Napoli took the unusual path of appointing a new boss, former Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti, before moving Sarri on.

That slowed things down dramatically - as did Antonio Conte's willingness to simply stick around if they weren't going to sack him.

But with Conte finally gone and Sarri close to signing, Chelsea can begin preparing for life under the 59-year-old former banker.

The first major signing is set to be Napoli's Jorginho, a player who looked almost certain to join Manchester City before having his head turned by his former coach's imminent arrival in London.

And now it looks as though talks have already begun over another Chelsea target.

According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are in discussions with Juventus over Gonzalo Higuain.

The most prolific season of Higuain's career came in his sole season under Sarri - the Argentine broke the Serie A record for goals in a season, scoring 36 in just 35 games.

But while the signing is an obvious one for Chelsea, it has become more complicated.

The original plan was to swap Higuain for Alvaro Morata, a player Juventus admire and were sad to lose in 2016 when Real Madrid activated his buyout clause.

But the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo has left them without a need for Morata, as well as in need of the money that Higuain could bring them.

Juve allegedly value Higuain at £53m and so it looks like Chelsea may need to offload Morata elsewhere before moving for the man they want leading the line for them under Sarri.

With under four weeks left of the transfer window, Chelsea better finally get moving.