Maurizio Sarri has been ordered to change his habits by Roman Abramovich after signing on to become the new Chelsea coach. The 59-year-old Italian – who replaces Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge – has been ordered to wear a suit on matchdays rather than his usual tracksuit approach, and has also been told to cut out his cheeky half-time cigarettes.
The sight of Sarri puffing away on the touchline became a regular one during his time at former club Napoli, before he was banned from doing so and given a special designated area in the home dressing room.
German club RB Leipzig even built him his own smoking area for a Europa League tie last season .
That will all have to change now though according to The Sun , who claim that Abramovich has ordered Sarri to bring “a British attitude” to the job.
He has also been told to wear a suit to press conferences, although given that Conte rarely did that then it remains to be seen whether or not that happens.
Sarri began his Chelsea reign this week by apologising for racist and homophobic remarks he made while Napoli boss .
Referring to an incident in which he insulted former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini in 2016, calling him a f****t, Sarri said: “I am an extremely open person, I do not have these kind of problems, I hope I will show this when I am working here and living here.
“These mistakes were made, yes, but when someone makes a mistake they must apologise and accept some allegations can be made by the press.
“More than apologies, I hope you will have the chance to get to know better and forget about this very quickly.”