At the end of every season football fans around the globe eagerly await what moves their beloved club will take during the summer months, and it is not always player transfer rumour speculation that hits the headlines – it is often the managerial playground that clubs involve themselves in.
Domestic fans naturally have their own opinions on that particular decision. Some managers are out of their depth and should have been fired earlier, others are fired to early and unfairly as players, or a clubs’ board let them down when it comes to being backed in the market.
Wherever you fall in that debate, it makes for an intriguing fantasy football decisions as nobody truly knows how a new manager will work out, and even though we are still within touching distance of the Italian Serie A campaign coming to a close, this week fans in the wider world of football have the opportunity to welcome two new gaffers to the Italian top flight division, and at two very notable clubs.
To begin with, following Juventus’ own issue with storied and serial winning Scudetto gaffer Massimiliano Allegri, they have now confirmed that he has been officially replaced by 41 year old Thiago Motta.
The former Bologna boss, whose playing career saw international caps for his country and a good spell at Old Lady rivals Inter Milan during his professional midfielder days, has now signed a deal that sees him head their first team up until the summer of June 2027. Fans of the Bianconeri will be hopeful that he can repeat his trick of leading Bologna into the Champions League with their fifth placed finish last year, as Juve have been on the slide.
Another club looking for better is AC Milan and the Rossoneri’s search for a new gaffer following the departure of Stefano Pioli (a mutual consent decision with the board) has now been confirmed as 51 year old Portuguese Paulo Fonseca.
He has signed a three year deal until the summer of 2027 having left French Ligue 1 club Lille by mutual consent himself, although in fairness to him, they finished fourth in the league and only just missed out on a Champions League spot.
Fonseca naturally has experience of the Italian game as he has previously managed AS Roma for a spell, and his other managerial roles include Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto. At Shakhtar he won the Ukrainian league and cup double three times, and his spell at Porto saw him lift the Portuguese Super Cup.
It will be interesting to see what impact they each have next year, as the Italian league should be wide open again – even if Juve are determined to renew their more recent doinance.
