Roberto Mancini has agreed to be Italy head coach for a second time, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Giovanni Malagò said on Tuesday, also confirming Claudio Ranieri would take over as technical director.
Mancini replaces Gennaro Gattuso, who left the post in April after Italy failed to qualify for a third World Cup in succession, and returns to a job he held between 2018 and 2023. He led the national team to European Championship glory in 2021 with a penalty shootout victory over England at Wembley but then failed to reach the 2022 World Cup and a slow start to Euro 2024 qualifying. In total, Mancini managed Italy for 58 matches during his first spell and at club level has managed Inter, Fiorentina and Manchester City, where he spent three years and guided them to their first Premier League title in 2011-12.
“Mancini is the coach,” Malagò said on Tuesday. “I believed that the best person to become head coach was Roberto Mancini.”
Ranieri appointed technical director
Ranieri replaces Paolo Maldini, who resigned as FIGC technical director along with his adviser Leonardo on Monday after Andrea Pirlo’s appointment as head coach was blocked due to the former midfielder’s ties to a Russian betting firm. Pep Guardiola was the association’s first choice but turned down the job last month.
Ranieri, 74, who led Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2016, will oversee technical operations and elite football development across Italy’s national team structures. “I needed someone with whom I could share the decision on the coach, because without that shared view my reasoning would have carried little weight,” Malagò said. “So consequently, we have a new coach and a new technical director for Italy.”
