Juventus are eager to finalise a deal for Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri in the coming days, with talks over a potential move to the Allianz Stadium planned for Monday.
With Massimiliano Allegri leaving the Serie A champions this summer, Sarri emerged as one of their top targets to assume control of the team. Reports even surfaced that Sarri was ready to quit Stamford Bridge, just days after lifting the Europa League trophy.
The latest update on Sarri's future comes from the Mirror, who add that the Italian will meet Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici on Monday in an attempt to come to an agreement.
There is a confidence amongst club officials that they will be able to finalise the deal, with Sarri keen to bring his brief spell in the Premier League to an end after failing to connect with a large part of the Chelsea fan base.
A return to Serie A, where Sarri made his name with Napoli, has long been touted, with Roma also said to be in the race for his signature. However, Juventus are ready to offer Sarri a three-year deal worth £19m to seal the deal.
There have been plenty of candidates for the vacant managerial role, including Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. Klopp recently described links to the Serie A side as "bulls**t", although links to Guardiola have persisted.
According to journalist Luca Momblano, who was speaking on Top Calcio 24 (via Football Italia), Juve still believe that a move for the City boss is possible, so much so that their social media team is already creating a welcome video package for the Spaniard, as well as Sarri.
Guardiola is said to be having difficulty negotiating his release from City, so Juve officials want to ensure a deal for Sarri is in place as a fall-back option.
He has previously insisted that constant links to La Vecchia Signora were false, although that has done nothing to stop the speculation that he could pursue a new challenge, after guiding City to consecutive Premier League titles.
Source : 90min