Ancelotti to take year-long break

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he will take a one-year sabbatical from football after being sacked by Chelsea.

Ancelotti was dumped by Blues boss Roman Abramovich on the final day of the English Premier League season, despite leading the club to a second-place finish behind champions Manchester United.

The Italian is not without his suitors given his stature in England, and Aston Villa, Fulham and newly promoted Queens Park Rangers have all been linked with his services.

But the in-demand 51-year-old seems prepared to forgo all offers in favour of a rest while he contemplates his next move.

“I am in no hurry to coach and I don’t need to,” Ancelotti told Italian newspaper La Stampa.

“I have enjoyed this experience (of coaching in England). I will return to London to organise my life.”

“Besides a six-month break, I have been coaching non-stop since 1995. I will take a year off and look around, study how my colleagues work.”

The news could potentially be a reprieve for current Roma boss Vincenzo Montella, who was widely expected to make way had Ancelotti opted for a move back to the club where he spent his playing days.

Ancelotti has previously stated his desire to return to the Italian capital in the future, though he has given his strongest indication yet that that time has not yet arrived.

“I have not been contacted by any club in England and I have not spoken to Roma. It is all fantasy,” he said.

“I have always said, and I reiterate it, that one day I will coach Roma – but it’s still early.”