Maurizio Sarri’s release clause expires tonight and multiple sources claim Chelsea will not pay Napoli, so the Coach can take this to court.
Sarri was sacked by Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis last week and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, but under Italian rules, the contract remains intact until it is terminated by mutual consent.
Maurizio Sarri’s release clause expires tonight and multiple sources claim Chelsea will not pay Napoli, so the Coach can take this to court.
Sarri was sacked by Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis last week and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, but under Italian rules, the contract remains intact until it is terminated by mutual consent.
The Partenopei have no intention of waiving or even reducing the €8m release clause, but seeing as that expires at midnight Italian time tonight (11pm in the UK), it seems to be irrelevant.
The Guardian and CalcioNapoli24 claim Chelsea informed Sarri they won’t pay the clause, so now it is up to the Coach to extricate himself from the contract.
Sarri and his lawyers will aim to terminate the contract for constructive dismissal, as he was sacked after reaching a new record of 91 Serie A points, and that means going through FIFA.
The problem is that this could take a long time to work through and Chelsea aren’t prepared to wait much longer.
As reported two days ago, the Premier League side have also contacted Laurent Blanc to discuss his availability.
It’s worth remembering that Antonio Conte still has a year left to run on his Chelsea contract and would be owed hefty compensation if he was fired.