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 objectives for 2026/27: to fight to win back-to-back league titles as coach of the Dragons and make a good impression on their return to the UEFA Champions League.

An intention that has been made clear in recent months, both by him and by the blue-and-white club’s leadership, but which still did not stop Giovanni Malagò, the new president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), from seeing Farioli as a possible name to lead the Italian national team, orphaned of a coach since Gennaro Gattuso failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup – Silvio Baldini took over on an interim basis.

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

Thus, Paolo Maldini, Italy’s new national technical director, is weighing alternatives: Antonio Conte, who has also already been national team coach 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 to be 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 coach. Even so, the newspaper stresses that the Dragons’ SAD “would never easily give up” their man at the helm. At that point, the release clause would have to come into play, set at 15 million euros during transfer windows. A figure described as “prohibitive” for the FIGC, which would have to try to negotiate with André Villas-Boas. And, as can be imagined, that would not be an easy task.

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