Bitter rivals Tottenham, Arsenal both in talks with Serie A boss
Tottenham and Arsenal are both in talks with Italian coach Maurizio Sarri, according to a report in Italy.
Spurs are looking for a replacement for Jose Mourinho, who was surprisingly appointed Roma head coach on Tuesday. Just two weeks after his dismissal at Tottenham the Portuguese coach has walked into another job back in Italy. The 58-year-old will take over in the summer and he claimed the “incredible passion” of the Roma fans convinced him to move to Rome.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy meanwhile is looking for a full-time coach to replace interim boss Ryan Mason. And Football Italia exclusively claim they are in talks with Juventus chief Sarri.
The former Chelsea boss remains contracted to the Old Lady until 2022. After guiding Juve to the Scudetto last season, the Old Lady have lagged behind Inter Milan this term. In fact Inter were crowned Serie A winners at the weekend with Juve 13 points adrift.
Sarri, 62, is understood to be open to another shot in the Premier League. He guided Chelsea to Europa League glory in his sole season in charge in England in 2017-18.
The report claims the Serie A giants could have terminated his €6m-a-year deal by the end of April, paying a €2.5m-a-year fee, but they have passed that up.
So it means that if Sarri agrees to join any other club then Juve would be due compensation.
To make things more complicated though, Arsenal are also interested in Sarri.
Subscribe for free to TEAMtalk’s daily newsletter…
‘Arteta expected to leave in summer’
The heat has started arrive on Mikel Arteta with a number of reports recently claiming the Spaniard is under pressure.
Italian website TuttoMercatoWeb have claim that the Arsenal hierarchy are “not happy with Arteta”. While The Sun have reported that there is “growing resentment” from players over Arteta’s methods.
While Spurs started talks with Sarri just after the announcement of Mourinho’s sacking in April, Arsenal have also approached Sarri.
The source suggest Arteta “is expected to leave the Emirates Stadium at the end of the season”.
Arteta won the FA Cup after taking charge in December 2019 and finished eighth in the Premier League. However, this season the Gunners are struggling to better last season’s finish. They are still in with a chance of winning the Europa League, facing Villarreal in the semi-final second leg this week. And TuttoMercatoWeb claim only winning the Europa League will save Arteta from the axe.
Arteta signed a three-and-a-half-year deal which takes him up to the summer of 2023. But such has been the lack of progress the 39-year-old could be looking for a new job this summer. And Arsenal are already making moves behind his back.
READ MORE: Arsenal prepared to return summer signing back to sender after Arteta decision
The post Bitter rivals Tottenham, Arsenal both in talks with Serie A boss appeared first on TEAMtalk.