FINAL WARNING

EXCLUSIVE

MAURIZIO SARRI is hovering on the brink of the sack – and could go if Chelsea lose the Carabao Cup final.

There is growing concern in the Stamford Bridge hierarchy after a string of bad results and also the relationship Sarri (left) has with the

fans – especially when he said he did not care what they thought after the FA Cup defeat by Manchester United.

Sarri appears to be a dead man walking and is running out of time as they face Malmo in the Europa League tomorrow, Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday then Tottenham next Wednesday.

He has been left in no doubt his future is shaky and if there are more poor results the board are ready to make a change and are already considering replacements.

Home fans chanted for Blues legend Frank Lampard (above) on Monday, but Derby’s coach is only in his first season as a manager.

Juventus boss Max Allegri (below) could be a big-name alternative, but Zinedine Zidane is unlikely due to his poor English.

Director Marina Granovskaia – an ally of Roman Abramovich – is also in the spotlight as she championed Sarri’s appointment and recent signings have failed to improve the squad.

Sarri is struggling to convince Chelsea’s serial trophy winners his way is the right way. The Italian’s failure to make the most of the huge experience in his squad is damning.

Many Chelsea players know what it takes to achieve glory for club and country, while Sarri still awaits his first managerial honour.

Eleven of the players who played in Chelsea’s last title-winning campaign under Antonio Conte started this season at the Bridge.

But rather than tap into their knowledge, the coach has stuck stubbornly to his ‘Sarri-ball’ philosophy. That won admirers at Napoli, but crucially no silverware.

His shunning of Callum Hudsonodoi has also not gone down well. The teenage winger has barely featured since being denied a January move to Bayern Munich.

Training has been described as monotonous and even duller than under his compatriot Conte.

And Sarri’s blunt criticism of their motivation has also backfired.