Federico Bernardeschi Discusses 'Suitable' Maurizio Sarri Amid Juventus Rumours
June 2, 2019
Juventus winger Federico Bernardeschi believes Maurizio Sarri has a "suitable" profile to become the club's next manager, but he doesn't know whether the Chelsea boss will take the job.
Per Football Italia, the former Fiorentina man didn't want to talk about Juventus' ongoing search for a new head coach too much, but he is confident the club will make the right decision:
"[Massimiliano] Allegri should be celebrated, as it's what he deserves, because it's not easy to win as much as he did. He has his ideas, which have taken Juve to a great deal of success.
"I won't comment on who the next coach could be, as we have a club made up of some excellent directors, so whoever arrives will be up to the task and bring something new for every player.
"As a player, I can allow myself to say that Sarri's profile is suitable, but I don't know if he'll be the next coach or not."
Sarri has been strongly linked with a move to Juventus, emerging as the favourite to take the job since guiding Chelsea to the UEFA Europa League by beating Arsenal on Wednesday.
On Friday, Dominic Fifield and Fabrizio Romano of the Guardian reported that he has asked the Blues to let him return to Italy.
Per Rob Draper of the Mail on Sunday, the Blues are already eyeing up replacements:
The former Napoli boss isn't the only candidate being discussed, and per Football Italia, both Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Tottenham Hotspur's Mauricio Pochettino are options.
Corriere dello Sport, Il Sole 24 Ore and Bloomberg reported the Bianconeri are in negotiations with Guardiola, and those reports have driven up Juventus' share prices (h/t Football Italia).
Sky Sports reported Sarri is the club's fall-back option:
The former banker won the first piece of silverware of his career during his first year at Chelsea while also guiding the club to a third-placed finish in the Premier League.
Despite his relative lack of silverware, he has a sterling reputation in Italy for the work he did at Empoli and Napoli. With both clubs, he used an attractive and attacking style of football and managed to outperform the expectations.
He nearly guided the Partenopei to the Serie A title in the 2017-18 campaign, falling four points short of their goal. They led Juventus until Matchday 27 and beat them on Matchday 34 but couldn't stop the juggernaut from repeating as champions yet again.
Allegri guided Juventus to five straight Serie A titles after Antonio Conte had won three in a row with the Old Lady. He left the club at the end of the season, however, giving someone else the task of winning Juventus the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1996.