Roberto Mancini clarifies his role after visiting Sampdoria’s training ground, jokes about his next job and leaves the door open for Italy. ‘It was my best experience.’
The coach is currently a free agent after his contract with the Saudi Arabia national team was cut short by mutual consent.
There were reports he would become the new technical director of Sampdoria, joining former teammates Alberico Evani as coach, with Attilio Lombardo as assistant manager.
However, his son Andrea Mancini has instead taken the role, with Roberto Mancini visiting the Bogliasco training ground today.
“I do not have any role with the club, absolutely not,” he assured TG1.
“It’s just that Samp is something special for me, so during their moment of difficulty, I came here. I know the President, we speak often, so if I can give some advice, then I’m ready for that.”
Mancini wore the Sampdoria jersey for 15 years in his playing career, where he was part of the Goal Twins with Gianluca Vialli.
It is suggested he wanted to be only an unofficial consultant for Samp because he could therefore be free to sign on as a coach for a different club, with links pointing him towards Roma for next season.
“Every day people say I am sitting on a different bench, one day here, the other over there, another up, then down. It’s a bit like in politics,” laughed Mancini.
“There are many important teams in Europe. We’ll see.”
The greatest achievement of his coaching career was to win EURO 2020 for Italy, but he surprised many by walking away and taking the Saudi job instead.
He was replaced by Luciano Spalletti, who is having mixed results.
“I think the Nazionale is a very good team. They are all mainly players who made their debut with me and I am sure they will do well.”
Could Mancini ever return to the Italy job after deciding to leave?
“It was my best experience ever. Winning with the national team is something totally different, so who knows? You can never tell.”
