Maurizio Sarri is “very superstitious and very stubborn”, says Cesc Fabregas, but the Italian has found his own unique way of delivering results – with success having continued at Chelsea.
Just one season has been spent in English football by the enigmatic 60-year-old.
That may be all that he sees out, with Goal revealing that he is eager to return to his homeland at Serie A champions Juventus.
If he does walk away, then he will do so having delivered a top-four finish and Europa League glory in west London.
Former Blues star Fabregas considers that to be a positive return from a man who has seen plenty of questions asked of his methods.
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The Spanish World Cup winner told reporters of Sarri, who allowed him to leave Chelsea for Monaco in January: "He is very superstitious, he is very stubborn in this way.
"He is a manager with his own ideas and he doesn't move from them much.
"He has an idea of how he wants to play and the football that he really wants to play. He doesn't move from it. No matter what you tell him, no matter what you advise him, no matter what your opinion is, he will never change.
"But he did it the way he likes it. He has his own vision of football and, in the end, he is where he is with it and you have to respect that."
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With Sarri seemingly edging towards the exits at Chelsea, another change in the dugout could be on the cards.
It has been suggested that the Blues will look to bring club legend Frank Lampard back to the club if that is the case, with Fabregas among those to have been left impressed by the job an ex-England international has done at Derby.
He added: "I think he has done a really impressive job. It's his first ever job. He changed many things.
"I saw him in Russia with the BBC and he had a very difficult squad, an older squad full of players at the end of their contracts as well.
"He renewed completely the squad, took on young players.
"He played a really aggressive style, attacking football. Really for a first ever job, I think he has done really good."
