Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 12:46• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 13:10

Maurizio Sarri is the new coach of Lazio, the Roman club announced through the official channels on Wednesday afternoon. The 62-year-old Italian coach succeeds Simone Inzaghi, who in turn leaves for Internazionale. Sarri was last active as a trainer of Juventus in the 2019/20 season and will sign a two-year contract in Rome until the summer of 2023. Sarri was announced in a playful way by Lazio. The club threw a cigarette into the world via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to confirm the arrival of Sarri.

It is a musical musical chairs for trainers in the Italian Serie A and so Sarri’s name has also been associated several times with a trainer job at the highest level in recent weeks. His name fell with Napoli, AS Roma and Internazionale. Sports Media Set At the beginning of May, even reported that Sarri had already signed a contract with Roma, where he had to serve as the successor to Paulo Fonseca. Sarri’s arrival to Lazio is somewhat unexpected, as the club initially had a verbal agreement with Inzaghi to extend. He therefore prefers an adventure at Inter to a longer stay in Rome.

The announcement in the form of a smoking cigarette is playful and characteristic, as Sarri is known for regularly lighting a cigarette along the line. The trainer characterizes himself by munching on a cigarette filter to coach his team from the sidelines. Sarri joined Juventus in 2019 and won the ninth Scudetto in a row with the Turin club, but had to make way after he lost to Olympique Lyon in the eighth finals of the Champions League and was eliminated. Andrea Pirlo, who has since left Juventus, was considered his successor.

Inzaghi’s departure as manager was a hard blow for Lazio, who were convinced Filippo Inzaghi’s younger brother would say ‘yes’ to a contract extension. Inter was surprised by Conte’s departure and quickly recognized that Massimiliano Allegri was on his way to Juventus as Andrea Pirlo’s successor. The alternatives could not convince Inter and therefore the club increased the proposal to Inzaghi to four million euros on an annual basis and one million euros in variable bonuses. That was double the proposal from Lazio, which, moreover, will not participate in the upcoming edition of the Champions League.