Claudio Ranieri has been named the new Italy technical director, as just shy of his 75th birthday, Sir Claudio is again tempted out of retirement.
The focus on today’s announcement from FIGC President Giovanni Malagò was the return of Roberto Mancini for his second stint on the Italy bench, a role he already held from 2018 to 2023.
However, equally important was the fact that Ranieri has been appointed the technical director, a position created only this summer that for 17 days had been given to Paolo Maldini.
Ranieri new leader of Italy project
This is a role that many other national teams have, overseeing not just the senior side, but also the various youth teams all the way down to the academies around the country.
Creating this position was meant to give the Nazionale a stronger identity and long-term structure, which could remain intact even if and when there is a change of coach.
Ranieri turns 75 in October and has already retired twice, first announcing he was hanging up his whistle after steering Cagliari to Serie A safety in June 2024.
He was called back to the bench by his beloved Roma in November 2024 and took them to the brink of Champions League qualification after starting in the danger zone.
Ranieri had remained at Roma in the role of management consultant, but was fired in April 2026 following profound clashes with coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
It had seemed as if retirement was for real this time, but once again he has felt impelled by a sense of duty, this time to the Italy squad.
When he returned to Roma, there were memes mocking the eternal call to bring him out of his comfortable life, like the Batman signal.
Ranieri began his coaching career in 1986 with Vigor Lamezia, going on to numerous clubs including Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Inter, AS Monaco and of course Leicester City.
This is where he won the most shocking Premier League in history, a 2016 trophy that nobody expected and that may very well never be repeated again.
He did have some brief experience in international football, sitting on the Greece bench for just four games from July to November 2014, ending after a 1-0 home defeat to the Faroe Islands.
As a coach, Ranieri won the Premier League, UEFA Supercup, Spanish Cup, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.
