FORMER CHELSEA boss Maurizio Sarri allegedly rejected an approach from Nottingham Forest this month.
The Italian, 65, quit as Lazio manager on March 11 after a dismal run of form left them ninth in Serie A and dumped out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich.
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However, now a sensational report from journalist Alfredo Pedulla claims that he was allegedly offered an almost instant return to the dug-out.
Despite having Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm, he says that Forest called Sarri and tried to make him their head coach just days after he had decided to leave Lazio “with the request to immediately take over” from the Portuguese tactician.
Forest, who are deep in relegation trouble after being hit with a four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, are said to have offered him a three-year contract.
And they also threw in the added incentive of the promise to have “a major transfer next season if they avoided relegation” this term.
This shock report says that the ex-Napoli and Juventus chief turned down the proposal due to wanting to take some time out ahead of getting another job next season.
SunSport have contacted Forest for comment regarding the shock claims.
And Sport Italia have now stated that Sarri, who lifted the Europa League in his one season at Chelsea, could be heading to Fiorentina as Vincenzo Italiano is reportedly going to depart the club at the end of the season.
Espirito Santo was appointed by Forest on a two-and-a-half year contract on December 20 after the much-loved Steve Cooper had been sacked.
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But the old Wolves and Tottenham chief’s arrival has failed to transform the club’s form as he has recorded just three wins from his 11 games in charge.
That dire run, and the points sanction, have seen Forest drop into the relegation zone and they go into the weekend a point behind Luton.
The City Ground outfit did admit that they overspent by £34.5million across a three-year period, which led to their punishment being less severe due to their cooperation.
But they have vowed to appeal that punishment.
A short club statement read yesterday: “Nottingham Forest can confirm that it has today lodged an appeal against the four point sanction imposed by the Commission in relation to the Club’s breach of the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR).
“The club will not be making any further statement at this time.”
Premier League is now full of asterisks
THE last time Leicester were promoted to the Premier League, they provided English football with its most wondrous miracle.
An improbable relegation jailbreak was followed by a fantastical 5,000-1 Jamie Vardy party, dilly-ding-dilly-dong title-winning campaign, and the entire sporting world marvelled at it.
Except for the Premier League’s elite clubs, who decided this could never happen again.
If the Foxes win promotion from the Championship this season — and they are level on points with leaders Leeds with a game in hand — they are likely to start next season with a points deduction. And possibly a punishment substantial enough to make survival a 5,000-1 shot.
In the era of football’s asterisk invasion, nothing surprises us any longer, as the world’s richest and ‘most competitive’ football league ties itself in knots through Profitability and Sustainability Rules designed to reduce competition.
Everton were deducted ten points, reduced to six on appeal, but are currently immersed in a three-day hearing which might end with them losing more points.
Nottingham Forest are four points down but that figure could be greater or lesser after their appeal.
Luton boss Rob Edwards — whose team are significantly affected by all of this hokey-cokeying — says he works off a different league table, without points deductions, to determine where his side are in the relegation battle.
But in fact, you would need five or six potential league tables to try to work out all potential scenarios.
Read more on the points deductions fiasco from SunSport’s Dave Kidd here.