Chelsea winger Pedro sees similarities between new Blues boss Maurizio Sarri and his former coach Pep Guardiola.
Pedro played under Guardiola for five years in Barcelona, following the Catalan into the first team at Camp Nou after they worked together in the B side in 2007-08.
Sarri only took over from Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge less than two weeks ago, but the Spanish winger has already noticed parallels with the Manchester City boss.
“They are similar. Their intensity, mentality. It is good,” said Pedro.
“When he arrived he was very good with the players, speaking a lot and really, really hammering on the pitch his ideas. It is a very big change for the players.”
Sarri gained a reputation for an attacking brand of possession football at Napoli, where he was in charge for three seasons.
He has already raided his former club as he looks to implement his style in west London, signing Italy midfielder Jorginho – who will make his first Chelsea appearance against Perth Glory on Monday – in a deal reportedly worth £57m.
Commenting on the new signing, Pedro said: “Jorginho is a very good player, clever, fast. This is good and a big challenge for him to play here in the Premier League but he is very strong.”
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis however accused Sarri of trying to dismantle the whole Napoli team.
“[Sarri] wanted to take my whole team to England,” said De Laurentiis.
He said he had to “lay down the law” to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia.
De Laurentiis, speaking to Sky Sports Italia, added: “He wanted Jorginho and I gave him away after I talked to Ancelotti, who told me he was banking a lot on [Amadou] Diawara and that he wanted to play [Marek] Hamsik deeper.”
Sarri led Napoli to two second-place finishes in his three seasons, and De Laurentiis took exception to the 59-year-old’s take on their parting.
“I didn’t like it when he said that we both made mistakes,” said De Laurentiis. “I don’t think I made any.
“I wasn’t wrong not to challenge him even if it would have been the most obvious thing.”