Maurizio Sarri reveals leaving Chelsea after one season was ‘the most fundamental error of my career,’ but homesickness for Italy was just too strong to keep him in England.
The 65-year-old coach is currently out of work, having resigned from Lazio in mid-March, and is looking back over his experiences in football.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, he also commented on being ‘disappointed’ that Milan and Fiorentina had not even made an initial approach to see what his ideas for their teams could be.
He confirmed that he does not want to go abroad now, and it is that homesickness that proved pivotal to end his Chelsea stint in 2019.
“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.”
Sarri had success at Chelsea
During his lone season on the Chelsea bench, Sarri oversaw 40 victories, 11 draws and 12 defeats, scoring 123 goals and conceding 67.
The call of home was too strong and he returned to Italy for Juventus, where he again lasted only one season, fired after winning the Serie A title.