Maurizio Sarri asks to leave Chelsea ahead of potential Juventus move

Maurizio Sarri has asked to leave Chelsea just two days after winning the Europa League with the Blues.

Sarri has been tempted by the prospect of a return to Italy, with Juventus earmarking the former Napoli coach as a potential successor to Massimiliano Allegri along with Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.

The Italian coach only arrived back with the rest of the Chelsea squad from Baku following their 4-1 Europa League win over Arsenal on Thursday afternoon, and met with his representative Alessandro Pellegrini later in the evening.

Pellegrini joined influential agent Fali Ramadani - who acted as an intermediary when Sarri left Napoli for Chelsea last summer - in London on Friday to hold talks with the club regarding Sarri's future.

Reports emanating from Italy late on Friday night suggested that Sarri held a meeting with Marina Granovskaia, during which he told the director that he wants to leave - and Standard Sport understands that to be the case.

Chelsea are reluctant to sack Sarri having just paid former boss Antonio Conte £9m in compensation, and it is believed that the club will not stand in his way given that they can now make a managerial change without having to pay him off.

Juventus’ players are under the impression that Sarri will be their next coach and, significantly, Bianconeri president Andrea Agnelli was in Baku to meet with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck before the Europa League Final.

Pochettino remains a target for Juventus, and the Italian champions want to see how the Champions League final plays out before making any final decisions as they still have ambitious thoughts toward the Tottenham coach.

But with Pochettino having four years left on his current deal and Spurs not wanting their prize asset to go, Sarri is seen as the more realistic target.