Maurizio Sarri Chelsea manager: For someone who needs 60 cigarettes a day just to function, Italian has a surprisingly level hand… he could be the man to unite Blues

GOODBYE to a workaholic, hello to a chain-smoking jazz fan who unwinds by reading crime novels.

Maurizio Sarri is Italian like the man he is replacing Antonio Conte and both have a similarly driven approach on the training ground.

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Maurizio Sarri puffs away but his main problem after moving from Napoli to Stamford Bridge might be the no-smoking rule

But the latest in a long line of Chelsea managers is considered far more politically aware and sophisticated, even if he tends to pace up and down the dugout with a plastic fag hanging out of his mouth during matches.

The biggest problem he is going to encounter with Chelsea is the fact that Stamford Bridge is a no smoking stadium.

Gianluca Motti of Gazetta dello Sport is part of The Italian media who have explored every aspect of Sarri’s life, both professional and personal, and believe he will be the man to get Chelsea’s dressing room pulling with the manager instead of pushing against him.

That was Conte’s downfall. Taking on the players and the club in constant snipes over transfers makes the players he bought feel like they are no good and it winds up the people who have paid for them. There will only be one winner in that fight.

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The Italian media rate Maurizio Sarri as the ideal man to bring Chelsea back together after they looked in turmoil last season - a year after winning the title

For someone who needs 60 a day just to function, Sarri has a surprisingly level hand. The prime example is the way he persuaded sulking striker Gonzalo Higuain to stay at Napoli after taking over from Rafa Benitez in 2015.

The Argentinian was had clashed with the manager, Napoli had missed out on Champions League football and Higuain was in a right strop.

But after just a week of working for arch-diplomat Sarri, he was putty in the new man’s hand and stayed another year before an irresistible bid of £77million came in from Juventus.

Chelsea supporters will hope he can weave the same kind of magic with those disillusioned big name players amid the simmering discontent of Conte’s fractious reign.

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Antonio Conte was seen as a figure of disunity at the Bridge and irked club bosses

Higuain will now tell anyone who cares to listen that Sarri is one of the best coaches he has ever worked for.

Sarri himself puts his people skills down to the fact he worked outside the football bubble until late in life.

A career on the bustling foreign exchange markets managing large portfolios of cash for uber wealthy clients teaches anyone how to schmooz and get the best deal done over the line in high pressure situations.

Spells on the financial markets in London, Zurich and Luxembourg improved his English which as the most widely spoken language in the world makes getting the message across that much easier.

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Maurizio Sarri needs to smoke out the problems at Chelsea after what owner Roman Abramovich judged a dire 2017-18 campaign

That will help on the training ground and in matches. He is known for adopting a cast-iron back four which is unshakeable - the days of the wing back at Chelsea are numbered.

Sarri is more flexible up front and can play with three forwards or with a player like Eden Hazard slotting in behind the centre forward.

But his teams play narrow. They close space and operate in tight confines, which could be good news for a player like Alvaro Morata who endured a difficult year getting to grips with English football as much as Conte’s spiky personality.

GOODBYE to a workaholic, hello to a chain-smoking jazz fan who unwinds by reading crime novels.