Maurizio Sarri closing in on return to management with club he resigned from six years after leaving Chelsea

MAURIZIO SARRI is reportedly close to a stunning managerial return with Lazio.

The former boss spent nearly three years at the Rome club

Maurizio Sarri is on the brink of rejoining Lazio a year after quitting

, who won the 2019 Europa League during his sole season with the Blues, was left unhappy with transfer business.

He saw key men like Joaquin Correa, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Francesco Acerbi depart while being replaced with “Plan C and Plan D”; targets.

And a fourth straight league defeat proved to be Sarri’s breaking point last year.

However, numerous reports in Italy claim the former Napoli and Juventus boss, who won the 2020 Serie A title with the latter, is now set to rejoin Lazio.

They are without a manager after seeing Marco Baroni resign just one year into a five-year deal following Lazio’s failure to qualify for Europe.

It’s believed club chiefs immediately reached out to Sarri to see if he was interested in a return.

And after being promised that Lazio will hand him a transfer window war chest, the chain-smoking tactician has accepted their proposal.

Sarri is now expected to pen a two-year deal worth £5million, with an automatic year-long extension worth a further £2.5m should Lazio qualify for the Champions League.

The Italians are now targeting several stars including Fenerbahce playmaker Sebastian Szymanski, Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares and even former midfielder Milinkovic-Savic, now at Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.

Sarri is also thought to have been promised that key men including centre-backs Alessio Romagnoli and Mario Gila will be kept on despite interest from numerous clubs.

Criticising Lazio’s transfer policy shortly before his departure last year, Sarri said: “Everyone else signs who they want.

“It seems to me that before, the club were clear about who was doing the transfers.

“If I ask you for a player who is Plan A, and you make me choose between C and D... It’s not like I did the market.”;