Chelsea fullback Emerson Palmieri has been interviewed this week by Sky Italia. The 25-year-old spent most of the chat talking about the managers he’s had in his career.
Following his €20m move from AS Roma in 2018, the first coach Palmieri found at the Blues was Maurizio Sarri. And he had a great relationship with the Italian boss.
“For Sarri I have no words, we had a wonderful year: nobody believed it, but we finished third in the Premier League and we won the Europa League, I’d say that everything went very well,” Palmieri told Sky Sport.
“With Spalletti there was a friendship, you feel good and you talk about life, the family. With Sarri there was little relationship off the field, but he’s a beautiful person, with a gigantic heart. They are both very intelligent, they look alike. Sarri focuses more on tactics, for working on his ideas, while Spalletti leaves a little more room for fun in training. Maurizio is certainly the coach who gets angry the most among those I have known.”
Speaking of Frank Lampard, Palmieri says the Chelsea legend is doing well but still has room to improve as a manager: “He’s very intelligent, he’s young and he knows how to communicate with the players, he was an idol here at Chelsea; he will grow a lot. All the fans are in love with him. Every day I try to listen to him, he was a fantastic player, never seen a midfielder capable of scoring 400 goals. Back then I only saw him in video games, working with him is a wonderful feeling.”
Despite being born in Santos and playing for the Brazilian club for many years, Palmieri moved to Italy in 2014 and fell in love with the European country. That’s why besides having played for Palermo and Roma, he’s also chosen to play for their national team.
Speaking about the Azzurra, Palmieri was also asked if he’d fancy a return to Serie A. He confirmed it, as well as saying there’s a chance he’d return to his home country.
“I had a great time, also with culture, and it’s one of the reasons why I chose the Italian national team. It may happen that I go back, but at the moment I’m very happy in England with Chelsea, I also have a contract and I’m very calm. One day I could also go back to Brazil, in my head I’d like to stay in Europe throughout my career, but I’ll think about it. Santos are the team of my heart, it would be difficult if I went back there not to go to that club.”
