Report: Sarri to join Juventus on 3-year contract

The managerial vacancy at Juventus will be filled next week as Maurizio Sarri will leave Chelsea to join the Serie A champions on a three-year contract, Fabrizio Romano of The Guardian reports.

It's understood Sarri secured his release from Chelsea on Friday after his agent, Fali Ramadani, met with officials from the Premier League outfit to negotiate terms of his departure.

Juventus are reportedly confident they will not have to pay a fee to sign Sarri, who just completed his first season as Chelsea manager and helped the Blues win the Europa League.

Despite that late-season success, uncertainty over Sarri's future at Stamford Bridge has surfaced in the media during the final months of the 2018-19 campaign. Juventus emerged as a favorite to sign the 60-year-old following the departure of manager Massimiliano Allegri in May.

Sarri, who joined Chelsea from Napoli last season, added fuel to speculation when he admitted that the lure of returning to Italy was becoming difficult to resist.

"For us Italians, the call of home is strong," Sarri said. "I feel that something is missing. It has been a heavy year. I begin to feel the weight of distant friends and elderly parents I rarely see.

"But at my age, I only make professional choices. I won't be able to work for 20 years. It's hard work, the bench."

The revelation of Sarri's anticipated departure follows Chelsea's confirmation on Friday that superstar Eden Hazard has been sold to Real Madrid for a reported €100-million fee plus add-ons.

Chelsea are also in the midst of attempting to overturn a two-window transfer ban issued by FIFA after the English side was found guilty of breaching regulations regarding the recruitment of young players.

Allegri, Nuno Espírito Santo, Javi Gracia, Laurent Blanc, and Chelsea's all-time leading scorer Frank Lampard, who managed Derby County last season, have all been linked with succeeding Sarri.