Sarri was born in Naples. He did not play football professionally and took part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a banker. In 2005, he had his first Serie B job at Pescara. In 2014, he won promotion to Serie A with Empoli. In 2015, he joined Napoli. He won many individual awards while managing the Naples-based club. After finishing as league runners-up in 2017–18, he moved to English club Chelsea, where he won the UEFA Europa League in his only season with the club. He returned to Italy with Juventus in 2019.