Maurizio Sarri Plans Raid on Former Club Napoli After Reportedly Agreeing Two-Year Deal at Chelsea
Chelsea have reportedly agreed terms with former Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri, who is set to be appointed the club's new manager at the expense of Antonio Conte.
Wednesday night saw Sarri relieved of his duties at Napoli, with the Partenopei replacing him with former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti. The changing of the guard in the south of Italy means that Sarri's suitors Chelsea no longer have to pay the £7m contract release fee that kept him tied down in Naples, and were free to discuss a deal with his representatives - which is believed to have occurred on Thursday.
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And now, according to a report published by La Repubblica, the two parties have reached an agreement - taking Chelsea one step closer to officially appointing Sarri as the club's new head coach.
Chelsea will, however, be forced to dish out a reported £9m to current boss Conte if they are to fire him, but once that is done, Sarri will put pen to paper on a two-year deal, which will see him earn €6m per year.
In addition, according to the Evening Standard, Sarri plans a raid on the star assets of his former club. Sarri wants right back Elseid Hysaj (£44m), midfielder Piotr Zielinski (£57m) and 32-year-old defender Raul Albiol (£5.2m) should he move to Stamford Bridge.
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He will also recommend the club sign long term target Kalidou Koulibaly and midfielder Jorginho; though these two players aren't quite so straight forward to sign, especially with the latter likely bound for Premier League champions Manchester City.
With the relationship between Sarri and Napoli chairman Aurelio di Laurentiis currently rather strained, these signings may be quite tricky to push over the line, especially considering Carlo Ancelotti wants to keep as many as he can.
