The Maurizio Sarri experiment at Chelsea has not exactly gone to plan. Recruited in order to turn Chelsea into an expansive team that plays an attractive brand of football, all he has succeeded in doing is making them a side that ships goals at the back.
His refusal to alter the team's approach, and insistence on playing N'Golo Kante out of position in order to accommodate the floundering Jorginho, has hardly done him any favours either. Sarri is seemingly on the precipice of the sack, and one or two more questionable results could see Roman Abramovich swing the axe once again.
It appears that the Italian may not be out of work for too long, however. Calcio Mercato are reporting that Serie A side Roma are lining up Sarri to be their next manager, once he has been sacked by Chelsea. They even claim that some tentative approaches have been made by the Italian club to his representatives, with a pay package close to being agreed upon.
After a promising season in 2017/18 in which they reached the Champions League semi-final, Roma have struggled somewhat this year, especially earlier in the season. They currently sit in fifth place in Serie A, although they have played a game less than fourth-placed AC Milan. They also defeated Porto in the opening leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Despite a recent upturn in fortunes, it appears the club are ready to move on from manager Eusebio Di Francesco.
Should Sarri become available, he will surely have no shortage of suitors in Italy. He is very well thought of in his home country, having transformed Napoli during his three-year spell in Naples. Were he to part ways with Chelsea, he could certainly do worse than Roma.
They have a squad that is packed with up-and-coming talent, with the likes of Cengiz Under and Nicolo Zaniolo considered amongst the rising stars in European football. They would certainly be a side that would be easy to mould in his own image, something that has not worked out so far at Stamford Bridge.
