Gianfranco Zola is facing an anxious wait to discover if he will still have a job at Chelsea next season.
Zola returned to the club, where he starred as a player between 1996-2003, as part of Maurizio Sarri’s backroom staff last summer.
His appointment as assistant first-team coach was considered important for Sarri and the hierarchy because of his links with the club.
But Zola’s future is in doubt due to Sarri’s request to leave the club in order to take over at Juventus. Sarri has yet to be given the go-ahead by Chelsea to make the switch, but if the move goes ahead as expected, it is unlikely that Sarri will ask Zola to join his backroom team in Turin.
Like the other nine members of Sarri’s inner circle at Chelsea, Zola was handed just a one-year contract.
Former Blues midfielder Frank Lampard is leading the race to replace Sarri and, should he be appointed, he will bring another ex-Chelsea player and coach, Jody Morris, to be his assistant.
It is likely Chris Jones, who was employed at Chelsea for 12 years before moving to Derby to work under Lampard last summer, would also return.
Other possible candidates to succeed Sarri include Wolves boss Nino Espírito Santo, former Juve man Massimiliano Allegri, Laurent Blanc, Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag and Watford manager Javi Gracia, and they will also want to bring their own men in.
