Roberto Mancini: Former Italy coach could be Saudi Arabia's coach

Former Italian National Team manager Roberto Mancini is now slated to join Saudi Arabia National Team as their new head coach. Reports from Italy claim that Mancini is set to agree on a £77 million deal for a span of 3 years. It could see him staying as the coach for the Arabian side till the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The Saudi Arabia team that qualified for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are without a head coach. Mancini is now their primary choice for the vacant position.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Roberto Mancini will be appointed as Saudi Arabia’s national team coach. There, he will earn around €30m-a-year until 2026. Apparently, he will earn around a huge €90 million in his 3-year deal. The reports say that he has already reached an agreement with the Saudi Federation. He will remain with the team at least till the 2026 World Cup to lead them in the competition. Reportedly, the Saudi Federation will soon make an announcement regarding the coach’s appointment.

Former Italy national head coach Roberto Mancini is in advanced talks to become Saudi Arabia national team manager 🇸🇦

The deal is reported to be worth around £77 million pounds 💰 pic.twitter.com/nZ88Dmrklj
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 24, 2023

Following Mancini’s departure, the Italian FA released a statement saying, “The Italian Football Federation announces that it has taken note of the resignation of Roberto Mancini from the position of coach of the Italian national team, received late yesterday evening. Thus concludes a significant page in the history of the Azzurri, which began in May 2018 and concluded with the 2023 Nations League Finals. In between, the victory at Euro 2020, a triumph conquered by a group in which all the individuals have known how to become a team.”

The Saudi Federation are hoping to win the coming Asian Cup in January led by Mancini. They won the trophy three times in their history. However, their latest win came 27 years ago in 1996. Mancini resigned only two weeks ago from his post quite suddenly. This prompted the FIGC to hire Luciano Spalletti as their new head coach. Apparently, Mancini will meet with staff members soon to prepare for the move. As per reports, he will probably bring Lele Oriali and Andrea Gagliardi with him to Saudi Arabia.

Oriali was Italy’s team manager when Mancini was their coach. Reportedly, Gigi Buffon could be replacing him. Saudi Arabia are hoping to host the 2026 World Cup. In the meantime, they are trying to strengthen their team. They spent huge amounts of money to bring several famous European players, like Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic, N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, and more to play in their clubs. Even Neymar will soon join another of their national league clubs Al Hilal.

They even brought in Steven Gerrard as the new head coach of one of their top Saudi Pro League clubs, Al Ettifaq. Currently, Saudi Arabia’s U23 coach Saad Al-Shehri is serving as the senior men’s team’s interim coach. He’s been serving as their coach since March this year following the departure of their former coach Herve Renard. Saudi Arabia qualified for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. They even defeated the eventual World Cup winners Argentina during last year’s World Cup tournament.

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