Maurizio Sarri: Former Chelsea Boss Discusses Career Path, How His Wife Forced Him to Cut Hair

Maurizio Sarri: Former Chelsea Boss Discusses Career Path, How His Wife Forced Him to Cut Hair

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:28 PM
  • Maurizio Sarri managed Chelsea for just a season between 2018 and 2019 and returned to Italy
  • The Italian manager is a former banker who developed an interest in football and switched careers
  • He is also one of the most superstitious managers in world football who pays attention to every detail

Former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is currently in the dugout as the manager of Serie A club Lazio, having previously managed Napoli and Juventus in the top flight of Italian football.

He won his first career trophy in England, leading Chelsea to the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League title, beating rivals Arsenal 4-1 in the final held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

A year later, he became the oldest manager to win the Serie A title in his only season at Juventus before he was sacked due to the club's failure in the UEFA Champions League.

Maurizio Sarri, Lazio, Italy.
Maurizio Sarri reveals his wife forced him to shave his hair after a loss. Photos by Alessandro Sabattini/Massimo Insabato.
Source: UGC

Sarri discusses career path

As reported by Marca, Sarri is a former Italian banker who began his managerial career in 1990 in the eighth division of Italian football with Stia.

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Speaking to Football Italia after Lazio's goalless draw with Bologna, the former Napoli boss described his journey as coming from pit and dirt.

“Nagelsmann is touched by God, with barely any experience, finds himself leading one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I come from pitches made of dirt and mud. It was a long journey, a difficult one, but to be honest, I enjoyed myself too,” he said.

Julian Nagelsmann, 35, currently manages FC Bayern Munich. At the same age, Sarri was still in the eighth tier of Italian football with Antela and working in the bank.

Sarri reveals why he cut his hair

The former Empoli boss is a very superstitious manager, and one of his superstitions is not to touch the match ball, as well as not change anything during a winning run, as reported by Sun UK.

Recently, he cut his hair and has revealed how his wife made him do it after weeks of troubling him.

“My wife was getting annoyed with me, she kept bugging me to cut my hair. Seeing as we were in a period when we kept winning games. I tried to put her off by saying I couldn’t cut my hair when we were doing so well. After Tuesday she met me at home and said, OK, now it’s time to get it cut,” he said.
“I am a gem at home! I never disturb anyone, and most of the time I’m not even there!”

Arteta reveals funny superstition

Sports Brief earlier reported that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed his funny superstition in the Premier League title race with Manchester City.

The Spaniard said he does not change anything in his outfits when they are on a winning run, but a defeat certainly calls for a bit of change in his outfits, the same way he goes for his coaching methodologies.

The Gunners are two points clear on the league table with a game in hand. They travel across London to play Fulham in a few hours.

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Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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