Claudio Ranieri, who famously oversaw Leicester’s shock Premier League title win a decade ago, is expected to leave his role as a senior advisor at Roma after a clash with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
The 74-year-old had come out of retirement last year to coach Roma for the third time, leading the club to a fifth-placed finish in Serie A.
Ranieri stepped aside at the end of the campaign and became a senior advisor to Roma owner Daniel Friedkin, reportedly turning down the chance to become Italy manager to do so.
Gasperini was appointed as Roma head coach, with Ranieri among those to have had a role in hiring the former Atalanta boss.
According to reports in Italy, a rift between Gasperini and Ranieri has emerged in recent weeks.
During an interview with DAZN before Roma’s win over Pisa earlier this month, Ranieri had suggested Gasperini had been the club’s fourth choice candidate for the role.
Claudio Ranieri is expected to leave his role as a senior advisor at Serie A side Roma
Ranieri famously led Leicester to their shock Premier League title win back in 2016
A clash with coach Gian Piero Gasperini, right, is reportedly set to lead to Ranieri’s Roma exit
Ranieri claimed he had put forward ‘five or six’ names, but ‘three of those didn’t come’.
He then issued a defence of the club’s work in the transfer market, after Gasperini had appeared to agree with suggestions Roma had not sufficiently strengthened its squad.
‘Not one player came in without his approval,’ said Ranieri, who stressed Gasperini’s work with young players at Atalanta was a major factor behind his appointment.
‘[Jan] Ziolkowski, [Lorenzo] Venturino, [Bryan] Zaragoza, we tried to give the manager a team who came within a point of Champions League qualification last year, with some players he could help to mature.’
Ranieri later added: ‘If I am consulted again, I will continue. Otherwise I can also leave.
‘I love Roma and I am ready to step aside as senior advisor, just as I had already done before as coach.’
Reports have followed that Ranieri and Gasperini have since been ignoring each other at the club’s training ground, with the expectation that the former will now leave his position.
Ranieri, who is a lifelong supporter of Roma, coached 18 clubs during his managerial career including Chelsea, Fulham and Watford in England.
He is best known for masterminding Leicester’s shock Premier League title win in the 2015-16 season, with the Foxes winning the title despite being given pre-season odds of 5,000-1 to do so.
Ranieri’s expected exit from Roma comes in the same week that Leicester’s relegation to League One was confirmed.
The Foxes have been relegated in back-to-back seasons, falling from the Premier League to English football’s third tier.
