Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is reportedly the number one candidate to replace Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus, ahead of former manager Antonio Conte.
As per a report from The Sun, Serie A champions Juventus are looking at Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri as a potential replacement for Massimiliano Allegri, who will be leaving the Bianconeri at the end of the season.
Allegri has been in-charge at Juventus since 2014 and has led them to five consecutive Serie A titles. However, he has been unable to lead the club to success in the UEFA Champions League, with the Old Lady exiting Europe’s premier footballing competition at the quarter-final stage this season, eliminated by Ajax at home.
This has played a major part in Juventus deciding to part ways with the 51-year-old once their final Serie A game of the season against Sampdoria is out of the way. Naturally, ever since the announcement was made, a number of names have been linked with the soon-to-be-vacant managerial post at the Allianz Stadium.
Antonio Conte was believed to be in the running to return to the hot seat at Juventus. The Italian enjoyed a successful stint with the Bianconeri, but left on a bitter note in 2014. Without a job since being let go of Chelsea last summer, the 49-year-old had emerged as a viable candidate to retake the reins in Turin.
However, according to the report, Juventus’ star attacker Cristiano Ronaldo is against appointing the former Chelsea boss as the new manager, which has led them to turn their attention towards the current Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri.
Sarri arrived at Chelsea from Napoli only last summer, replacing Conte. After making an excellent start to life in England, the Italian’s reign looked to be going off the rails at a point, but he has managed to recover strongly, leading Chelsea to a third-place finish in the Premier League, along with the finals of the Carabao Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
Despite a strong finish to the season, Sarri’s future at Chelsea hangs in the balance, with owner Roman Abramovich considering sacking him owing to his poor rapport with the fans. Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo had been touted as a potential replacement, but Chelsea legend Frank Lampard is now reported to be the front-runner after his exploits with Derby County this term.
The report claims that Juventus have already contacted Sarri over the prospect of him replacing Allegri at the end of the season. Interestingly, the 60-year-old has also been strongly linked with the managerial post at AS Roma, with Claudio Ranieri also set to leave at the end of the campaign.
Sarri is set to hold talks over his future with Chelsea soon after their Europa League final against Arsenal later this month. There is a distinct possibility that he could be on his way back to Italy ahead of the next season with Abramovich expected to let go of him and Juventus expressing serious interest.
