Official: Chelsea appoint Maurizio Sarri

Premier League giants Chelsea have this morning officially appointed Maurizio Sarri as the club’s new first-team manager.

Change at the helm

Italian tactician Sarri had long been expected to be announced as the man to replace Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, after Carlo Ancelotti was officially unveiled as the new boss of Napoli back in May:

Second best

Napoli racked up a hugely impressive points tally of 91 in Serie A this past season, a total which more often than not would be fully expected to clinch the Italian top-flight title.

However, unfortunately for the Neapolitans, 91 points did not quite get the job done, as perennial champions Juventus racked up an incredible 95 points to clinch their 7th-straight Scudetto crown.

Roadblock

Nevertheless, Maurizio Sarri has been widely-praised for the job he did at the Stadio San Paolo both this past season and over the last couple of campaigns, with many having expressed the opinion that the chain-smoking Italian’s signature would represent quite a coup for Chelsea.

Such a deal had proven extremely difficult to clinch for the Blues to this point, though, with Sarri having still technically been on the books of Napoli, despite Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment.

Chelsea had been unwilling to pay the Italian’s 8 million Euro release clause in full before its expiry at the end of May, an aspect of any potential deal which Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had insisted on during negotiations with the Premier League giants.

As such, it had been rumoured that talks between the parties had reached an impasse, with the possibility of Sarri spending a year out of management while his contract at the Stadio San Paolo ran down having looked increasingly likely.

Done deal

However, reports over recent weeks suggested that negotiations between Sarri, Chelsea and Napoli were very much back underway, with positivity surrounding the chances of an agreement being struck.

As a result, when Chelsea announced the sacking of Antonio Conte yesterday morning, it was viewed as a near-inevitability that Sarri’s arrival would soon be announced.


And, following months of difficult negotiations and frustrating roadblocks, the Blues have today finally confirmed Sarri’s appointment, with the 59-year-old having put pen to paper on a 3-year-deal at Stamford Bridge: