Chelsea are ready to dig in over Maurizio Sarri and keep Juventus waiting to appoint him as their new manager.
The Blues are in no rush to finalise Sarri's situation and are prepared to let the current uncertainty continue.
While Juve are trying to secure Sarri without paying compensation Chelsea are refusing to budge and won't let him leave until their demands are met. The Italian has two years left to run on his £5million-a-year deal.
That has contributed to the hold up since Sarri agreed a three-year £6.2m-a-season deal to become Juventus's new manager and told Chelsea he wants to return to Italy.
Chelsea showed how determined they can be in negotiations last summer, no matter the repercussions, when they refused to sanction Antonio Conte's exit until mid-July even though the writing had been on the wall for the Italian for months.
Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici was understood to be in London on Wednesday to try and push the negotiations for Sarri forward.
Conte's situation went unresolved throughout the close season and he was forced to return to start Chelsea's pre-season before finally being released.
Sarri's appointment as his successor was confirmed the day after Conte's sacking and left the new Chelsea manager only 22 days to get ready for the Community Shield against Manchester City.
Almost twelve months on, Sarri has informed the Blues of his desire to leave and moved out, taking all his belongings out of his Surrey home and back to Italy ahead of his anticipated return.
But Chelsea are in it for the long haul and ready to let the situation drag on if necessary and won't give Sarri the green light to go until the deal is done on their terms.