Sarri says Juventus appointment his ‘crowning achievement’

Sarri says Juventus appointment his 'crowning achievement'
Sarri says Juventus appointment his 'crowning achievement'

MaurizioSarri said being appointed Juventus' new head coach was the "crowningachievement" of his long career and he welcomed a return to Italy following ayear in the English Premier League with Chelsea.

The Serie Achampions appointed Sarri on a three-year contract earlier this week afteragreeing a compensation fee with Chelsea and the 60-year-old replacesMassimiliano Allegri, who stepped down at the end of the season.

"It's thecrowning achievement of a long career," Sarri told reporters. "At Napoli I gavemy all, then I decided to have a great experience in the Premier League.

"Juventusare the best Italian club right now and offered me a chance to return to Italy.

"It's been along journey for me made up of gradual steps. I'm happy to be at the mostimportant team in Italy and this is a further step forward after the experienceat Chelsea."

Sarricoached Juventus' rivals Napoli between 2015 and 2018 and nearly broke theirstranglehold on the league in his final season. The Naples side ran Juventusclose in the title race before falling four points short.

"For threeyears I would wake up and think about how to defeat Juventus, because they werea winning team," Sarri added.

"I gave 110%but we still couldn't do it. It was an experience and I will now giveeverything for this club."

AlthoughSarri won the Europa League with Chelsea and led them to a third-placed leaguefinish, the fans did not take to the style of play he tried to implement, whichworked wonders for him at Napoli.

WhileJuventus seemed to lack a recognisable playing style under the pragmaticAllegri in his final season, Sarri said he would build his team around Juventusforwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala.

"You have tostart with the talented players who can make the difference like Cristiano Ronaldo,Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa and build around them," Sarri said.

"When youhave a player with the qualities of Dybala or Ronaldo, they can play in anyrole. What can change is only the interpretation of the role.

"CoachingRonaldo will be yet another step forward, I'd like to help him break some newrecords."

Juventusdirector Fabio Paratici said hiring Sarri to replace Allegri was astraightforward decision.

 "The style of play was not a driving factor inthe change," Paratici said. "Sarri was always the first choice. We tried tomake him understand right away that we really wanted him.

"We choseSarri because we feel he is the best manager for Juventus right now. As were(former manager Antonio) Conte and Allegri in their respective moments and theyshowed great quality."

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