The FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, who is poised to be re-elected shortly, would like Roberto Mancini to stay on Italy’s bench past 2022. However, he is starting to consider possible replacements for the Azzurri job if the current coach does leave as announced and Fabio Cannavaro is atop of the list, SportMediaset reports.
The 2006 World Cup winner and Ballon d’Or recipient is currently managing Guangzhou Evergrande, but his contract will expire in 2022. After retiring, he also led Al-Nassr and Tianjin Quanjian and spent a month at the helm of the Chinese national team. He won three trophies as a manager.
Gravina intends to go through with his idea of hiring Marcello Lippi as technical director of the national teams, which almost caused a clash with Mancini in the past, and the veteran coach has strong ties with Cannavaro, which would facilitate the project.
While Mancini indicated Carlo Ancelotti, Gian Piero Gasperini and Massimiliano Allegri as his possible successors, the site informed that another name to monitor is Antonio Conte, whose deal with Inter ends in that same year, and who liked his time leading the national team. However, he would have to take a considerable pay cut for it to happen.
Conte took over the Azzurri in August of 2014 and guided them until the 2016 European Championship, where a star-less squad defeated Spain in the Round of 16 and was eliminated in the Quarter Finals by Germany on penalties.