Chelsea news: Maurizio Sarri deal OFF as Blues have 'concerns over previous behaviour'
CHELSEA have all-but ended their interest in appointing Maurizio Sarri as their new manager.
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Chelsea had earmarked Sarri as a viable candidate to replace Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.
But an impasse over his release clause from Napoli - set at a minimum £7m - put the deal on the rails.
And Sky Sports claim ‘concerns over previous behaviour’ have also arisen.
They report an incident in January, where Sarri was banned for two games and fined €20,000 for alleged homophobic abuse of Roberto Mancini, was the latest of a ’series of misdemeanours’.
Sarri denied being a homophobe but the Italian authorities banned him for "directing extremely insulting epithets at the coach of the opposing team.”
Sarri had been in talks with Chelsea last month over the expected vacancy at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are keen to offload Conte - even if it costs them the remaining £9m of his contract - and Sarri appeared to be the No 1 choice.
However, it now seems they will look elsewhere.
Zinedine Zidane was immediately linked to the west London club after he quit Real Madrid on Thursday.
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But the Frenchman is unlikely to jump straight back into management after winning a third consecutive Champions League with Real.
Laurent Blanc is also said to be on owner Roman Abramovich’s list of candidates.
But the club may also now choose to stick with Conte, who has one year remaining on his current deal.