Chelsea will meet Maurizio Sarri’s representatives on Friday as they consider potential successors to Antonio Conte, who is widely expected to exit the club this summer.
The Stamford Bridge side continue to weigh up the future of Conte, who warned Chelsea they would be losing a “serial winner” if they decided to replace him after winning the FA Cup at Wembley last weekend.
“After two years, the club knows me very well,” Conte said. “If they want to continue to work with me, they know me. I can’t change. I am this and my past speaks very clearly, as a player and as a manager.” Napoli appointed Carlo Ancelotti as Sarri’s successor on Wednesday after the latter guided the team to a second-place Serie A finish in his third and final season at the club.
The 59-year-old Sarri – who has never managed outside of his homeland – has received an offer from Zenit St Petersburg, understood to be worth around £5.2m a year. It is believed that Sarri’s preference would be to join Chelsea but it is not clear whether he is the club’s primary target. He has an England-based representative charged with finding him a job.
Following Napoli’s 2-1 win over Crotone, which saw Napoli end the season with 91 points before his exit was confirmed, Sarri told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “What I do think is that I could not go directly to another Italian team, and that if I had to make a change I would prefer to go abroad. Everything in life ends and it is better to finish things after writing a beautiful story.”
