Maurizio Sarri has opened up on the regret he feels in pushing to leave Chelsea after only a season at Stamford Bridge, calling the decision 'a sensational mistake'
Sarri got his wish to leave the London club and landed the Juventus job in 2019 but looking back now, he feels he was wrong to agitate for a return to Italy and says that Marina Granovskaia, the Chelsea director, wanted him to stay.
Sarri, who is now the Lazio boss, believes that the team Chelsea have these days is better suited to his way of playing.
Speaking to AlfredoPedulla.com, Sarri said: 'At Chelsea I made a sensational mistake, that of wanting to return to Italy at all costs.
'Marina stonewalled me to leave Chelsea, I had this desire to return to Italy. Chelsea are a great club, in the following years they have taken many young people suitable for me.
'I experienced a particular year, in which Abramovich could not enter England and we had an owner who was not present in the area.
'A rather difficult situation, all in the hands of Marina and she had a thousand problems to solve, the football aspect was in the hands of us of the staff, not having the economic power available.
'Then came Werner, Havertz, Mount, Ziyech: all suited to me and my way of playing.'
In his final game at Chelsea, Sarri oversaw an emphatic 4-1 victory over Arsenal in the final of the Europa League in 2019, his first major honour as a coach. They also finished third in the Premier League table.
But despite landing silverware, Sarri was never particularly popular with the Chelsea fanbase and there were calls for Chelsea to replace Sarri with the then Derby manager and Blues legend Frank Lampard.
Lampard eventually did replace Sarri and was at the helm when Chelsea signed the players Sarri mentioned, but Lampard could only last 18 months in the job and was sacked back in January.
Abramovich brought in Thomas Tuchel, a decision that was vindicated with Tuchel steering Chelsea to Champions League glory earlier this year.
Sarri, meanwhile, spent the 2019-20 season as Juventus manager and won Serie A before being replaced by Andrea Pirlo.
'It was taken for granted,' Sarri said of his success with Juve. 'I think mine was not celebrated very much.'
On being replaced by Pirlo, whose only prior coaching experience came through the Juventus reserves, Sarri said: 'This is the Guardiola effect that did so much damage in the end. An exception was taken as if it were a rule and you run the risk of burning some guys who would be great coaches after a few years.
'Sometimes there is a risk of hindering the careers of young people who could become very good with a little more experience.'