Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea always seemed a little unlikely.
Roman has toyed with ambitious managers before: AVB and Luiz Felipe Scolari were both aspirational appointments aiming high and taking a considerable risk. Neither worked out, and so the manager choices have grown more conservative.
For that reason, it always seemed more probably that the club would go for established top club experience in Luis Enrique or even Laurent Blanc.
But in the end, whether because they were ready to roll the dice again or because their preferred options priced themselves out, Sarri has the job.
It will be fascinating to see how this works out, but the arrival of Jorginho in the same deal is a perfect start. This experiment will only be worthwhile if Chelsea go the whole way, supporting Sarri with the players he wants and through bad spells of results.
It’s amazing that Chelsea ended up here, with a title winning manager booted out and a (so far) trophyless one coming in. But it’s too late to look back now, and moving forward can only be done together.
