David Luiz hailed Maurizio Sarri’s “amazing” impact on Chelsea following the glittering 4-1 victory over Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku.
Former Napoli boss Sarri lifted his first major trophy after Eden Hazard’s double and one apiece from Olivier Giroud and Pedro torpedoed Arsenal’s bid to squeeze into next season’s Champions League.
Hazard revealed the match is likely to mark a “goodbye” to the Blues and doubt also surrounds the club’s head coach, Sarri having been heavily linked to the vacant Juventus post in recent weeks.
Uncertainty has plagued the Italian since a mid-season slump, which brought criticism of his playing style, but centre-back David Luiz commended his contribution.
“He’s been amazing for this club,” the Brazilian said on the pitch after full-time.
“I don’t know about the speculation, everybody talks about everything. Now is the time to talk about the title.
“Sarri believed in my game. He’s a great guy, a great coach and he deserves this.
“I think it was a great year. We had ups and downs but I think we improved a lot, learned a lot and finished very well.
“We fight for the Champions League in third position [in the Premier League] and today we won a trophy.”
Sarri still has two seasons left to run on the contract he signed at Stamford Bridge in July 2018, and admits he thinks he has earned the right to stay on with the club.
1 – Maurizio Sarri is the first italian coach to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League in the XXI century. Master. pic.twitter.com/e2PFi2MPZl
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 29, 2019
“I think so, but it’s only my opinion,” he told a press conference when asked if he’d done enough to keep his job. “My opinion is not enough.”
And Sarri is looking forward to speaking with the club about his future.
“You know very well that I love the Premier League, the level of the competition,” he said.
“I am lucky because I am in Chelsea, one of the best teams, one of the best clubs in the Premier League in the best championship in the world.
“So, at the moment, I am happy. But, of course, I want to know if the club are happy. If we can improve. That’s normal, I think.
“But I do a discussion with the owner, the president, the director after every season in every club, so I think it’s normal.”
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