The former bank worker and amateur footballer’s storied rise to the top job at Stamford Bridge job is testament to the fact anything is possible, and he deserved the opportunity to replace the sacked Antonio Conte after three successful seasons with Napoli.
But the scale of the task facing him to transform the Blues is probably only now just about hitting home.
FA Cup final victory over Manchester United aside, last term was a desperate campaign of struggles for the 2016/17 Premier League champions as Chelsea finished fifth and missed out on Champions League football.
One of the 59-year-old’s big objectives will be to restore the club to European football’s top table, and while that can obviously be done through winning the Europa League, managing Thursday to Sunday competition over the course of an entire season is far from easy. Indeed, finishing in the top four is not a foregone conclusion.
On the agenda before that is what is set to be a hectic final three weeks of pre-season to get his new charges ready for the upcoming campaign.
Sarri will take charge of his first match as Blues boss against Perth Glory at the Optus Stadium Down Under on Monday, with Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola his new assistant manager.
Installing the magician as his right-hand man was a smart move given the respect the little Italian commands in many footballing circles.
New signing Jorginho is in line for his unofficial Chelsea bow, with the midfielder’s acquisition certainly a good sign for Sarri in as much as he was a top target and man he knows well from their time together with the Partenopei.
His £57 million arrival, pipped from under the noses of Manchester City, showed club owner Roman Abramovich has given Sarri flexibility to manoeuvre and go after his own targets in the window, rather than be at his mercy.
Sarri will hope the Russian billionaire offers similar support in their pursuit of Russia’s World Cup star, Aleksandr Golovin, who has been widely tipped to join from CSKA Moscow.
While France star and iron man N’Golo Kante will still anchor the midfield, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley and Tiemoue Bakayoko’s futures appear less certain. Willian, even more so. However, given the Brazilian is 29, it could make sense to accept a big cash offer from Barcelona.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek should though be one man who is given more of an opportunity to shine after his loan spell from Crystal Palace, similarly Kenedy after coming back from his stint with Newcastle. An ageing defence is a big issue, with Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Kurt Zouma among those who could depart.
Negotiations to acquire centre-back Daniele Rugani’s services from Juventus would be a coup although the 23-year-old is still growing in experience and perhaps not ready to be thrust into the Premier League environment.
Question marks over Alvaro Morata’s Bridge future and the role Olivier Giroud has to play next term will also need sorting.
While more incomings certainly really have to bear fruit ahead of the August 9 transfer window deadline, whatever deals are made, the futures of Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois will take centre stage.
Sarri is supposedly desperate to hold talks with both Belgium World Cup stars, who are still holidaying after their third-place finish in Russia.
Keeping Hazard, 27, who has spent six seasons in west London, does look increasingly unlikely given Real Madrid’s appetite to make him their marquee statement as pursuits for Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski fade.
The player himself has gone on the record, revealing his desire to move to the Spanish capital, so perhaps Sarri is resigned to losing the most vital cog in the wheel before he even sets the ball rolling this season.
Courtois, the goalkeeper who has long since made it known he wants to return to Madrid and be closer to his family following his Atletico days, would be another huge miss and leave the club in crisis with just Willy Caballero as a recognised first-team goalkeeper.
Selling both players would recoup significant funds but replacing them with so little time left in the window would leave Chelsea in a real spot of bother and without any momentum ahead of the new campaign.
Sarri’s in-tray is stacked although much of the transfer speculation is out of his hands. The Italian will do well to try and gel various pieces of the jigsaw together but if he can implement his renowned attacking style of football early doors, and indeed pick-up results, that should buy him some more time.
That, in itself, will prove to be no mean feat though given there is work to be done across all aspects of the pitch.
