Maurizio Sarri resigns as Lazio manager as ex-Chelsea boss booed off by fans

Former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has resigned from Lazio after their 12th Serie A defeat of the season.

The Roman club were booed off the Stadio Olimpico pitch after Monday night’s 2-1 defeat to Udinese. Sarri, 65, led Chelsea for one season in 2018-19 before joining Juventus. He signed for Lazio in June 2021 and finished second last season but his side lost the last four matches - including Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich - to sit in ninth place.

Despite their poor form this season, Lazio finished runners-up in Serie A last term behind another of his former clubs, Napoli. They are currently 11 points behind fourth-placed Bologna in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Sarri took up a position with Lazio after taking a year-long sabbatical to recharge. He had previously guided Juventus to the Italian title but was at the helm in Turin for less than 12 months after failing to win Europe's most coveted prize.

The Italian sparked speculation over his long-term future in football as recently as last year. Speaking to the media after a victory over Celtic in the Europa League, Sarri said: “This is no longer the game I love."

Speaking back in November, Sarri refused to rule out a future move to Saudi Arabia when he was asked whether or not he had any interest in joining the horde of accomplished names who have moved to the Gulf State over the past 12 months.

He did, however, stress in an interview with La Repubblica that he hoped to remain in charge of Lazio until the end of his coaching career. He said: “I would like it to be like this [staying at Lazio]. I don’t set time limits, so it’s not just up to me.”

He added: “Can you smoke in Arabia? Yes? Then we’ll see. However, it is not something