Farioli tipped as ‘ace up the sleeve’ in Italy, but future is clear | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli will begin the new season in charge of FC Porto and has clearly defined goals for 2026/27: to fight to win back-to-back league titles as coach of the Dragons and to make a strong impression on the club’s return to the UEFA Champions League.

An intention that has been made clear in recent months both by Farioli himself and by the blue-and-whites’ management structure. Even so, Giovanni Malagò, the new president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has looked at Farioli as a possible name to lead the Italian national team, which has been without a coach since Gennaro Gattuso failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup — with Silvio Baldini taking over on an interim basis.

According to La Repubblica, Roberto Mancini remains the favourite for the job, but the fact that he left the squadra azzurra abruptly in 2023 to head for Saudi millions was not well received by many of the clubs that backed Malagò’s candidacy for the FIGC.

As such, Paolo Maldini, Italy’s new national technical director, is assessing alternatives: Antonio Conte, who has also previously managed the national team and appears just behind Mancini as another viable name, Stefano Pioli, currently without a club, and… Francesco Farioli.

La Repubblica considers the FC Porto coach “Malagò’s ace up his sleeve”, as he has not completely ruled out the possibility of “starting from scratch” with a young — Farioli is 37 — and “promising” national team manager. Even so, the newspaper stresses that Porto’s board “would never easily give up” their man at the helm. At that point, his release clause would have to come into play, set at €15 million during transfer windows. A figure described as “prohibitive” for the FIGC, which would have to try to negotiate with André Villas-Boas. And, as one might expect, that would be no easy task.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.