Maurizio Sarri has openly admitted that departing from Chelsea was a significant error in his professional journey.
At the age of 65, Sarri’s tenure at Chelsea was brief, lasting only a single season. Despite this, he led the team to triumph over Arsenal in the Europa League final in 2019.
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Additionally, his team contested the Carabao Cup final that same year but ultimately lost to Manchester City in a penalty shootout at Wembley.
Following these achievements, Sarri made the decision to leave Chelsea and return to Italy to manage Juventus. However, he now expresses regret over his departure from the English Premier League.
When asked about his time at Stamford Bridge, Sarri told Sky Sports Italy: ‘Fundamental mistake in my career.
‘There were the conditions to stay, a difficult club where you probably don’t finish the second season as happened to everyone in the Abramovic era. But you remained in the Premier League circle.
‘We made a good journey. The year first the team finished in fifth place, then we finished third behind Liverpool and City who had more than anything else.
‘We won the Europa League with 13 wins and lost a League Cup final on penalties against City afterwards having eliminated Liverpool and Tottenham who reached the Champions League final that year.
‘I made a huge mistake that I had to avoid. The desire to return to Italy had to be lower than the desire to stay in the Premier League, which had to be higher.’
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte has been appointed as Napoli’s manager this week and Sarri believes his former team will finish in the top three in Serie A next campaign.
‘Napoli will have a journey ahead of them, with a change in the way they play,’ Sarri said.
‘Luckily, Conte is very quick in these situations to convey his mentality and his way of playing. I don’t see them outside the top three.’
Sarri has been out of management since resigning as Lazio’s boss in March but is now keen to make a return.
‘Let’s hope as soon as possible, I spent the first two months with family problems and the rest where I didn’t have great nostalgia for football,’ he said.
‘Now the desire is growing again and so I think that in a month or two I’ll be ready to go.
‘I think it’s difficult at this point of the market to find a solution that is not foreign but I find it difficult to go abroad.’
When asked about a potential move to Sevilla, Sarri replied: ‘There was a little bit of negotiation but they had different needs from mine so it didn’t go very far.’
