Gianfranco Zola has left South African broadcaster SuperSport’s World Cup coverage team in South Africa to return to Europe amidst rumours that he will become the assistant manager at Chelsea with Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri set to succeed Antonio Conte.
SuperSport anchor Robert Marawa bid farewell to the Italian legend, guest pundit for the World Cup, in the studio discussion after the Poland vs Senegal match and Zola was very hesitant to give anything away about the reason for his departure or what the future holds for him.
He only said that there are various situations that need to be resolved and that confirmation will hopefully be made soon.
Chelsea is expected to replace Conte with Sarri after the former endured a poor second season since winning the League in his first year in charge.
Napoli had already announced that Carlo Ancelotti would replace Sarri as the manager, but Sarri remained contracted to the club as a coach.
It is said that Chelsea will have to pay a compensation fee that could be as much as £7 million to Napoli as Sarri is still contracted until 2020.
Zola on the other hand has been without a position since leaving Birmingham City at the end of the 2017 and is set to be reunited with the Blues where he scored 59 goals in 229 appearances for as a player between 1996 and 2003.
No official word has come from either club and it has been suggested that neither Sarri nor Zola will be offered contracts until the Conte situation has been resolved, but the untimely departure of Zola from the South African broadcasting company could mean that the process has begun.