Roberto Mancini is on the verge of agreeing a massive £77million deal to become Saudi Arabia manager, according to reports.
Mancini resigned as Italy boss on August 13 after five years in charge of the Azzurri, with former Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti revealed as his replacement.
During his time as Italy boss Mancini won Euro 2020 and also finished in third place in the Nations League on two occasions.
And according to Sky Sports, the 58-year-old is in advanced talks to take over the Gulf state’s men’s national team ahead of the Asian Cup in January. He could bring Andrea Gagliardi and Lele Oriali with him.
He is believed to be the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s first choice for the role, with Sky reporting the contract offered to him would be worth £77m over three years in a deal which would take him up to the 2026 World Cup, which Saudi hopes to host.
After his exit was announced, the Italian FA said in a statement: ‘The Italian Football Federation announces that it has taken note of the resignation of Roberto Mancini from the position of coach of the Italian national team, received late yesterday evening.
‘Thus concludes a significant page in the history of the Azzurri, which began in May 2018 and concluded with the 2023 Nations League Finals.
‘In between, the victory at Euro 2020, a triumph conquered by a group in which all the individuals have known how to become a team.’
Saudi Arabia Under 23 coach Saad Al-Shehri is currently in interim charge of the senior side, who have been without a permanent coach since Herve Renard left in March.
Saudi Arabia qualified for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups but went out in the group stages on both occasions. They did, however, beat eventual winners Argentina, boasting Lionel Messi, 2-1 in the group stage in Qatar last year.
Mancini could become the latest high-profile figure to head to Saudi Arabia.
A host of players are now playing club football in the country, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, while Neymar is set to join Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain.
