After less than a year at Stamford Bridge, it has been announced that Maurizio Sarri will return to Italy this summer to take over as manager of Juventus. 

Sarri replaced Antonio Conte as Chelsea boss in July last year but the Italian was unable to truly win over the clubs fanbase despite guiding the Blues to third in the Premier League and a Europa League final win over London rivals, Arsenal. 

Humble beginnings

Sarri, who is 60 years old, never played professionally. The closest he came was unsuccessful trials with Torino and Fiorentina so he had to settle for a career as an amateur which ended in premature fashion due to injury. 

Sarri began coaching in 1990 but again, it wasn't a professional job and was in various regional leagues. However, he done reasonably well and eventually decided to give up his day job and go full-time in coaching. 

Sarri's rise through the ranks has been admirable and he has managed at every level in Italian football. After leading several teams in Serie B, he finally reached the promised land of Serie A in 2014 when he guided Empoli to second place and promotion before keeping the Azzurri in the top flight in 2014/15.

In 2015, Sarri took another step forward when he was appointed coach of his hometown club, Napoli and although he never won a trophy in Naples he gave Juventus some of the toughest tests they have had in recent seasons. 

One year too many in England?

After three years in Naples, Sarri moved to London with Chelsea but the marriage always seemed to be on the rocks. The Chelsea fans never seemed to warm to his style of football and it always looked unlikely that he would be back for a second season.

After winning the Europa League it had been reported that Chelsea made a move to keep Sarri but it's possible that they were aware of the Juve interest and wanted to make sure they were in line to receive compensation for their manager. Regardless of whether the interest from Chelsea was real or not, Sarri didn't flinch and was quick to say that he was missing Italy. 

Fresh start

Sarri now moves to Turin to take over a Juventus side that has dominated the Italian game. They have won eight Scudetto's in a row and Sarri will be expected to continue that run but there will also be a demand that he has success in Europe with the Old Lady. 

Juventus have only been champions of Europe twice in their history which is behind their Milan rivals, AC (seven) and Inter (three). The current team is ageing but they have a number of world-class players so the window for success is now and Sarri will be expected to deliver.

With players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Miralem Pjanic and Paulo Dybala at the club there's no reason Sarri can't succeed but the players will have to buy into his philosophy and that's something that wasn't particularly evident with Chelsea. 

In Turin, the bare minimum is to win the title and Sarri will be judged on his European performances. If he delivers the title that the Bianconeri crave, he will become a club legend but if he fails it's difficult to imagine that he will remain at the club for the duration of his three-year contract.