Juventus Set To Appoint Chelsea Boss Maurizio Sarri

TONY BANKS

Juventus expect to finalise the arrival of current Chelsea boss, Maurizio Sarri, as their new manager in the next 48 hours – one of his first signings could be Tottenham star, Kieran Trippier.

Sarri flew to Italy on Saturday, just hours after winning the Europa League with Chelsea, and after discussions with director Marina Granovskaia at which he made clear he wanted to leave the club.

The 60-year-old is due to have talks with Juve sporting director Fabio Patrici today, and the Italian giants are confident of tying up a deal, having already offered the Chelsea manager £6.2million a year contract for three seasons.

But the Italians are also intent on beating Napoli to the punch for the £35m signature of Tottenham‘s England full-back Trippier.

Napoli had been in pole position for the 28-year-old, who played in Spurs’ Champions League final defeat by Liverpool in Madrid on Saturday night, but have now cooled on the deal due to worries about Trippier’s age.

Juventus however are still keen, as are Spanish side Valencia.

Juventus were still interested in Tripper’s current Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino as a possible alternative to Sarri as the successor to Massimo Allegri, who left the club at the end of the season.

Pochettino though is expected to be too expensive to pry away from Tottenham though, and Juventus have already been given the signal that Chelsea will not stand in Sarri’s way if a deal can be negotiated.

Chelsea have targeted Derby boss Frank Lampard as Sarri’s potential replacement, and the £4million that the Pride Park club will want as compensation for the remaining two years of the former Stamford Bridge hero’s contract is not expected to be an obstacle.

Former Chelsea No 2 and current England assistant manager Steve Holland is another possible candidate.

Sarri opened up on his future at Stamford Bridge after the 4-1 Europa League final win over Arsenal.

After the game, he said: “You know very well that I love the Premier League, the level of the competition, and I am lucky because I am in Chelsea, one of the best teams in the best championship in the world.

“So at the moment I am happy, but of course I want to know if the club is happy, if we can improve.

“It’s normal I think; I have a discussion with the owner after every season with every club.”

Sarri won a major trophy and managed to finish in the top four in his first season with Chelsea.