Italy line up shock name to replace Gennaro Gattuso as manager

Italy have reportedly selected their replaced for Gennaro Gattuso after sacking him for failing to reach the World Cup.

Following their penalty shootout loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy failed to qualify for their three consecutive World Cup and will be the highest-ranked nation not at the competition.

Naturally, such a dismal result immediately raised questions about the future of Italy manager Gattuso, who replaced the sacked Luciano Spalletti in June 2025.

Several big names in Italian football have been linked with replacing Gattuso should the Italian Football Federation (IFF) decide to dismiss him, including both Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri.

However, it's now been reported that both Gattuso and Gianluigi Buffon, the head of delegation for the Italian national team, will hand in their resignations, with the IFF already picking their ideal replacement.

According to Sportitalia CEO Michele Criscitiello, Gattuso and Buffon's resignations are expected on Tuesday, with Andrea Abodi, Italy's Minister for Sport already in talks with Roberto Mancini to take the Italy job.

Mancini is reportedly set to return as Italy manager. (Image: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

The 61-year-old previously lead the Azzurri to their most recent tournament win, beating England in the final at Euro 2020 to deliver just just the second European Championship in Italian history.

He took the role as Italian manager in 2018, leading them to a world-record unbeaten streak of 37 matches, ended by Spain in 2021.

However, following Italy's exit from qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup after a shock playoff defeat to North Macedonia, Mancini resigned from his role as manager in August 2023.

Since then, he had a short spell as the Saudi Arabian national team manager, but left in November to take the role as the head coach of Qatari side Al-Sadd SC having signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Qatar Stars League club

Of course, prior to his career in international management, Mancini enjoyed a successful club career, with his best moment undoubtedly being leading Manchester City to their first Premier League title in 2012, with the iconic Sergio Aguero goal securing the trophy on the last day of the season.