Chelsea did not pay a single penny for Sarri, Jorginho deal separate, confirms lawyer

From a purely economic perspective, Chelsea have apparently managed to score a fantastic deal on Maurizio Sarri.

After two months of haggling, negotiating, posturing, maneuvering, the Blues appear to have signed the new head coach for zero “economic payment”. So claims Sarri’s lawyer, who’s probably fairly exhausted at this point, but no less triumphant for managing to engineer the deal in the end.

“We are all very happy, even if it was the longest and most complex negotiations I’ve ever seen. I’d define it almost unique, but at the same time we are very happy and satisfied to have reached an agreement.

“It was a termination by mutual consent. We got the paperwork down, word by word, overnight. Yesterday afternoon the media had said we’d found a solution when it wasn’t the case, but the signature arrived this morning. It satisfied everyone.”

“There was no economic payment to Napoli from Chelsea, nor did Sarri have to pay any penalty to free himself from the Napoli contract.”

Sarri had a buyout in place through May to the tune of €8m, while subsequent rumors claimed compensations anywhere from free to infinity. Eventually, negotiations reached a more creative stage, with rumors of transfer pacts and non-compete/belligerence stipulations mooted.

The oddly specific claim of zero “economic” payment certainly leaves open the possibility of other “gentlemen’s agreements” in the background, but the lawyer isn’t telling. He did confirm that Sarri actually wasn’t part of the €57+8m deal for Jorginho, even if it was happening at the same time.

“I’d prefer not to answer that [about a transfer pact], because there are some details that are redacted. Jorginho was absolutely not the key. Our negotiations with Napoli went on regardless of the Jorginho situation.”

“It really was working day and night to resolve the situation. We had to sort out every tiny detail or the whole thing would’ve collapsed.”

-Fabio Giotti; source: CalcioNapoli24 via Football Italia

Either way, job well done.

With Sarri arriving for free, Chelsea saw fit to hand out a three-year deal to the new head coach, with a reported annual salary somewhere between €5-7m.