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Gianfranco Zola is set to follow Maurizio Sarri out of the Stamford Bridge exit door.
The 60-year old Italian manager announced on Sunday that he was leaving the West London club to take up the vacant position at Juventus, following the departure of Max Allegri from his post at the end of last season.
Frank Lampard is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Sarri as the new boss at Stamford Bridge, and he is expected to bring his own backroom team with him, meaning that there is no obvious role for Zola, who was Sarri’s number two and assistant manager during the previous campaign.
Zola’s contract expires this summer and he will not be offered a new one. He was offered a subsidiary position as a club ambassador but, wanting to continue his coaching career, he has turned that offer down.
A Chelsea legend as a player, having made over 300 appearances for the team between 1996 and 2003, he returned to the club last summer to work under Sarri.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.