Official: Claudio Ranieri is Roma's New Manager

I can't imagine anyone associated with AS Roma envisioned making three managerial changes in the span of 10 months, but here we are. After sacking José Mourinho in January, the club pivoted quickly, surprising the peninsula by appointing club legend Daniele De Rossi as interim manager. While De Rossi's tenure wasn't perfect, he did enough to warrant a three-year deal from the Friedkin family. In another surprising twist, the Friedkin family canned DDR after four matches this season, replacing him with the overmatched Ivan Juric.

After two disastrous months at the helm, Juric was sacked Sunday evening following the club's 3-2 defeat to Bologna. In the wake of Juric's dismissal, the club scrambled to find a suitable replacement, someone ready, willing, and available to accept the monumental task of restoring Roma's confidence while dragging them out of the lower rungs of the league table.

From Vincenzo Montella to Roberto Mancini to Erk ten Haag, Roma reportedly cast a wide net while searching for their fourth manager of the year. However, the immediate candidates were either otherwise engaged or not interested in signing a short-term contract. What Roma needed was a tactically flexible manager who understood the weight of the situation and was willing to put their finger in the dyke for six months while the higher-ups sought a long-term solution for their revolving managerial door.

It turns out that Roma needed perhaps the most beloved Roman coach, Claudio Ranieri. Moments ago, the club officially announced Ranieri as its next manager, signing the 73-year-old for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season.

From the official press release:

AS Roma is pleased to announce that Claudio Ranieri is the new Head Coach of the First Team.

At the conclusion of the season, Claudio will transition into a senior executive role, where he will be an adviser to the ownership on all sporting matters at the club. The search for a future coach will proceed over the next months. Claudio will have input in that decision as well.

Born in Rome and a lifelong Romanista, Ranieri wore the Giallorossi jersey as a player during the 1973-74 season and later served as the team’s head coach on two separate occasions (from 2009 to 2011 and in 2019). He is a true symbol of the Club’s values and one of the most respected Roman sports figures worldwide.

Ranieri brings with him an immense wealth of knowledge and experience from Serie A, the Premier League, La Liga, and Ligue 1, having managed top European clubs and winning historic titles, such as his legendary 2016 triumph with Leicester.

The Club extends its best wishes to him for this exciting new chapter in his career, confident that he will be an invaluable asset to the team and to all of AS Roma.

Forza Roma and welcome home, Mister!

Ranieri's first official training will commence later today at Trigoria, while Sir Claudio's first official match in charge will see the Giallorossi travel to Napoli next Sunday.