Italian manager Claudio Ranieri decided to come out of retirement and save his hometown club. Ranieri was unveiled as the new head coach of AS Roma, signing a deal until the end of the 2024-25 season.
Ranieri, who will sit on Roma’s bench for the third time in his career, will move to a senior adviser role with the club after ending his term and help the club with the search for a permanent head coach.
Roma entered the season with club legend Daniele De Rossi as its head coach. However, after failing to get a single win in the first four games of 2024-25, De Rossi was sacked and replaced with Croatian manager Ivan Juric. But the decision backfired as Juric also failed to get the best out of the team, which currently sits 12th in Seria A standings.
Ranieri, on the other hand, retired at the end of the last season following a spell with Cagliari. He took over the club midway through 2022-23 while they were in the second division and led them to Seria A’s promotion. He then guided the club to safety in 2023-24 before retiring from managing.
“Before we start it seems right to clarify that I would have only unretired for Roma or Cagliari,” said Ranieri at his introductory press conference. “Fate wanted me to end my career as a manager here.”
Claudio Ranieri is best known for his unexpected Premier League run with Leicester City in 2015-16. He also managed a number of other clubs across Europe, including Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Valencia, and Monaco.
Ranieri served as the head coach of AS Roma twice before. His first stint was between 2009 and 2011 and included a second-place finish. He also briefly managed the club towards the end of the 2018-19 season.
