Maurizio Sarri was tagged the messiah when he replaced Antonio Conte at Chelsea in July 2018 after a successful three years with Napoli.
Backed in his first summer transfer window, Chelsea spent almost £200million on new players with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Jorginho the most expensive arrivals.
Despite all this investment, Chelsea finished third in the Premier League and won the Europa League with Sarri leaving the Blues after just one season at the helm.
The Italian tactician who joined Juventus after the exit at Chelsea has now labelled the decision to leave Stamford Bridge as the biggest mistake of his career.
According to Sarri, leaving Stamford Bridge was the “most fundamental error” of his career.
“That was the most fundamental error in my career,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia. “We had everything required to remain, it’s a difficult club to work at where you probably don’t get to finish the second season, as practically nobody did in the Roman Abramovich era.
“At least I would’ve remained in the general Premier League situation. We had a good journey there, as the previous season the team finished fifth, then we were third behind Liverpool and Manchester City, who were above all the rest.
“We won the Europa League with 13 victories and lost the Carabao Cup Final on penalties to Manchester City, after eliminating Liverpool and Tottenham, who that year had reached the Champions League Final.
“I made an enormous error that I should’ve avoided. The desire to return to Italy should’ve been inferior to the desire to stay in the Premier League, but that was not the case.”
Frank Lampard replaced Sarri at Stamford Bridge but the Englishman failed to make a mark. The London club has since sign numerous manager with Enzo Maresca currently the new coach.
