Former Chelsea manager ‘turns down’ Premier League return just weeks after sacking
Former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri reportedly rejected a return to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest earlier this month. The 65-year-old, who won the 2019 Europa League during his sole season in charge at Stamford Bridge, has been out of management since stepping down from his position at Italian side Lazio after four-straight defeats in all competitions earlier this month.
Lazio had been knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich at the round-of-16 stage and sat in an underwhelming ninth place in Serie A. According to journalist Alfredo Pedulla, though, the Italian could have been set for a swift return to management earlier this month after a call from relegation-threatened Forest, who recently slipped into the Premier League’s relegation places after being hit with a four-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules.
However, it is claimed Sarri rejected the offer of immediately replacing Nuno Espirito Santo on a three-year contract due to wanting to “recover the energy to start again” ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Since sacking Sarri in June 2019, Chelsea have hired and fired Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter before settling on Mauricio Pochettino this summer.
However, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain coach has found it difficult to win over the Blues’ supporters during his first season at Stamford Bridge, with the club having lost the League Cup final to Liverpool at Wembley last month and currently sitting 17 points off of the Champions League qualification places.
Both Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi and Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim have been touted as future Chelsea managers as the pressure continues to mount on Pochettino, who recently defended his position. “I received a very good text after the game against Wolves from the owners. We’re all together in this,” said the Argentine in February.
“Of course, it’s always a tough job. But at the same time it is an exciting project and a project that we know is difficult. In this type of moment, we are living in a situation that is not nice, we can learn. It is a good opportunity to learn.”
