Empoli have parted company with Maurizio Sarri with the Italian confirming to Sky Italia "I've decided to leave Empoli."
Sarri met club officials this morning and confirmed after that he had left the club. Sarri took over the club in the 2012/13 season and narrowly missed out on promotion from Serie B at the first attempt before taking the Tuscan side up last season. Empoli finished 15th in Serie A this season under the guidance of the 56 year old.
The club confirmed the departure in a statement; "After the meeting today, Empoli FC acknowledged the will of Maurizio Sarri not to continue the relationship which would have tied him to the club for another two years. Empoli has therefore decided to accept the resignation of the coach. We extend our deserved thanks to Maurizio Sarri for three years full of exciting achievements."
Sarri confirmed in his interview with Sky that he has not agreed to move to any other clubs despite rumours suggesting he could go to Cagliari.
"We had already talked about it yesterday. We had decided that the story ends here. I want to thank everyone, the club, the fans, the city and the players. It was a perfect story, I hope it is a fond farewell. Cagliari? I don’t think so, I don’t have any agreements, the chances are that I’ll take a break. If I do, I’ll go around Italy and Europe to observe, there’s nothing else to do. In football, even if you tell the truth no-one believes you, though I hope to find a solution next week. I like to work, but if there’s nothing then I’ll go around to study. This has been the most beautiful and important phase of my career, from a human point of view too. I was very happy, and the affection I found here will not be found elsewhere,” said Sarri in his interview with Sky.
Whether Sarri stays out of the game for long remains to be seen but his spell with Empoli will have improved his reputation greatly and it shouldn't be long before he starts receiving offers to get back into coaching.