It was close to two weeks ago that reports first emerged indicating that Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri was set to bolt Stamford Bridge and head to Juventus.
The west London side demanded compensation from the Serie A juggernauts for their boss, and now it appears they’ll receive a satisfactory release fee. According to The Guardian, an agreement has been reached in principle, and the sum could reach up to £5 million.
Sarri, who had a very successful but still extremely turbulent first season at Chelsea now returns to his native Italy. In terms of who replaces him at the Bridge, here’s our list of five candidates, which includes club legend and Derby County boss Frank Lampard.
Lampard’s former teammate, Chelsea club legend Didier Drogba, would be in favor of that idea.
“I think it is a very good option for the club,” Drogba said. “He has done well with Derby, taking the team to the play-off final.”
Sarri, who won his first major trophy this past season (Europa League final) and guided Chelsea to a third place finish in the Premier League, replaces the departed Max Allegri.
This is an exciting and special opportunity for him, hut not everyone is on board with this. Midfielder Jorginho, who moved with Maurizio Sarri (a Naples native) to Chelsea from Napoli last summer, did say about ten days ago that Sarri’s taking the Juventus job would be considered a betrayal in Naples.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.