Table of Contents
- Sarri managed Chelsea before Juventus & Lazio jobs; will decide future in the coming weeks
- Pep Guardiola’s Man City future still undecided ahead of 2027 contract expiry
- Others in running for Man City job are Vincent Kompany, Xabi Alonso & Girona’s Michel.
Former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has emerged as a surprise candidate for the Manchester City job if Pep Guardiola leaves the club this summer.
The Italian managed Chelsea for just under 12 months in the 2018-19 season, winning 40 of his 63 games in west London before leaving to take charge of Juventus.
Following a slightly longer stint in Turin, where he won the Serie A title in his debut season, Sarri has been in the dugout for 175 matches at Lazio across two spells. The 67-year-old resigned in March 2024 before rejoining 15 months later.
Bayern Munich fear losing Vincent Kompany to Manchester City amid Pep Guardiola exit possibility
Report: Man City enter Sarri race ahead of Lazio future talks
In March, Sarri cast doubt over his future in Rome when he questioned why he was still at the club following a disagreement with the board over the club’s transfer policy and fan boycotts against president Claudio Lotito.
Now, as reported by Sportitalia journalist and Lazio insider Alfredo Pedulla, Sarri will meet with club officials at the end of the season to decide his future.
It is understood that Napoli are a prime candidate to hire the Italian but Manchester City have also been pushed into the situation, with Sarri reportedly on their shortlist if Pep Guardiola decides to bring the curtain down on his managerial stint at the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Who else is interested in hiring Sarri this summer?
No clubs have made direct contact with Sarri yet but that can soon change as multiple clubs brace to be without a manager over the summer – with the FIFA World Cup also on the horizon.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth could all be without a permanent manager at the end of the season as it stands, with general candidates such as Xabi Alonso, Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola being central to the upcoming carousel.
When it comes to Napoli, former Manchester City EDS and Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was dismissed as a serious target recently but that doesn’t mean a move to the Etihad is off the cards for Guardiola’s former assistant.
Pep Guardiola formally approached by club executives over Manchester City future plans
Guardiola replacement latest – who else is on the shortlist?
In 2020, Maresca joined City’s U23 set-up before winning the Premier League 2 in 2021. He then began his senior coaching career at Parma but returned to the blue side of Manchester just a year later to join Guardiola’s coaching staff.
Maresca has been widely reported to be Manchester City’s preferred replacement for Guardiola but the Italian is among many other managers – including Bayern Munich’s Vincent Kompany, Alonso and Girona’s Michel.
Ultimately, it all comes down to whether or not Guardiola decides to leave Manchester City at the end of the season, though his current deal expires next summer.
