Maurizio Sarri’s time at the club was a pretty tense and awkward year, especially in press conferences, and the mood was often only lightened when Franco Zola would come in to take the Europa League equivalents.
As Sarri’s assistant, he was the approachable face of the regime, and now speaking 6 months after leaving, Zola has revealed a little more about what it’s like to see the players they left behind flourishing.
Zola freely admits that in the case of players like Fikayo Tomori, he and his boss simply failed to pick up on their amazing potential.
“Tomori is one of the players. Last year we had him in the pre-season and we couldn’t see all the qualities that he is showing now,” Zola said in comments carried by the Evening Standard.
“That is a surprise and a big lesson for us and me personally as well. They are going beyond my expectations,” the former Blue went on.
It would have been great to see Tomori playing in a Sarri team, but on the other hand without his success at Derby, he probably would never have been given this chance anyway.
So, all’s well that ends well…
