Even though Maurizio Sarri had a sticky time of things at the start of the year with Chelsea, everything came good in the end on Wednesday night. Chelsea lifted the Europa League title with a 4-1 win over Premier League rivals Arsenal out in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sariri happily celebrated with his team on the pitch, but that hasn’t really dampened the expectations that he could be leaving the club in the summer. Bookmakers really remain unmoved about his prospects at being with the London club at the start of next season.
Coral have him at 5/6 to leave Chelsea before the start of next season* (Betting Odds were taken from Coral on May 30th, 2019 at 7:07 p.m.).
Sarri was actually cut to 1/4 with Betfair following their Europa League success to be the next Juventus manager* (Betting Odds were taken from Betfair on May 30th, 2019 at 7:07 p.m.). That’s a strange market there considering that the only other man in single fixtures is Pep Guardiola who looks pretty entrenched at Manchester City.
Next Juventus Manager Odds*
Maurizio Sarri 1/4
Pep Guardiola 5/1
Simone Inzaghi 12/1
Jose Mourinho 12/1
Mauricio Pochettino 14/1
Sinisa Mihajlovic 20/1
Didier Deschamps 33/1
40/1 bar
* (Betting Odds were taken from Betfair on May 30th, 2019 at 7:07 p.m.)
Sarri to get the push – or walk?
But this is not just about Chelsea potentially giving the Italian the push at all. Maybe Sarri will recognise what is coming and want to walk away. Chelsea have a transfer ban for the next two windows and it looks increasingly like Eden Hazard will be joining Real Madrid sooner rather than later. Sarri did say after the cup win though that he “deserves to stay” but that could have been emotions running high after earning his first ever major trophy.
So if he stays Sarri would have to work with what he has got and because of their Premier League, third-place finish this season, that includes a Champions League campaign. Without Hazard, it would be a bit easy for Sarri to be overwhelmed and think that this is a good time to jump ship. It is going to be difficult to match the successes of this season, which included them getting to the EFL Cup final as well where they lost on penalties to Man City.
Next Chelsea Manager Odds*
Frank Lampard 4/9
Patrick Vieira 4/1
Massimiliano Allegri 11/2
Nuno Espirito Santo 14/1
Diego Simeone 16/1
Jose Mourinho 20/1
Laurent Blanc 20/1
Guus Hiddink 25/1
Gianfranco Zola 25/1
Didier Deschamps 25/1
33/1 bar
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on May 30th, 2019 at 4:07 p.m.)
Vieira and Allegri cut to be next Blues boss
There was some action in the Next Chelsea manager market at Betway following the Europa League Final. Both Patrick Vieira and Massimiliano Allegri received chops to their numbers. Former Arsenal man Viera is at 4/1, with Allegri (who has just parted ways with Juventus) at 11/2 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from Betway on May 30th, 2019 at 4:07 p.m.).
The latter would clearly be the more likely of the two to head to the Bridge if Sarri leaves. But still, they are both chasing the odds-on favourite Frank Lampard who is at 4/9 in the Next Chelsea Manager market* (Betting Odds were taken from Betway on May 30th, 2019 at 4:07 p.m.).
Tough season ahead
If there were changes to the Premier League club’s managerial setup, the new boss walking in will know that nothing is going to easy next season. They really aren’t going to be close to winning the Champions League title, with Coral placing them at 25/1* (Betting Odds were taken from Coral on May 30th, 2019 at 4:07 p.m.). With that bigger European distraction, it makes a top four domestic finish a much tougher thing. More so with no Eden Hazard and no new signings at the club.
