Claudio Ranieri to Exit Cagliari and Retire from Club Management Career

Summary:

• Claudio Ranieri is getting ready to bid farewell to Cagliari and retire from club management.
• He will put an end to a four-decade career during which he was in charge of 18 club sides.
• Cagliari’s Serie A status is guaranteed in time for Ranieri’s last match.

After helping Italy’s Cagliari to preserve its position in Serie A and avoid relegation, club manager Claudio Ranieri announced he was getting ready to leave the club and put an end to his lengthy club management career.

Ranieri Was in Charge of 18 Clubs

The 72-year-old club manager’s career started in 1986, almost four decades ago. Over the years, he took charge of an impressive number of 18 club sides.

The retired professional football player also recorded a brief stint as Greece boss.

One of his most iconic career moves was the time he spent leading Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2015-2016, at a time when the club was rated as 5,000-1 underdogs at the beginning of the campaign.

Ranieri spent his last match in the dugout on Thursday during a 3-2 home defeat by Fiorentina.

“Eternal Gratitude to a Great Man”

In an interview for Sky Sport Italia before the game, Ranieri said that while he finished his career as a club coach, he could accept an international position in case such a proposal would appeal to him.

It was an emotional final game for Ranieri with fans chanting his name before the before kick-off and giving him a standing ovation, while a banner read “Eternal gratitude to a great man”.

When he originally arrived at the club in 1988, Cagliari was playing in the third tier.

While he inherited a side fighting relegation, Ranieri assisted the club with consecutive promotions and helped it reach top-flight safety before moving on to Fiorentina, followed by Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Inter Milan and Monaco.

He made his comeback to Cagliari in January 2023, when the club was ranked 12th in Serie B and managed to secure their promotion during the play-offs.

The team came from two goals down to beat Parma in the semi-final and win the final against Bari.

Ranieri also spent time managing Roma. His work at Valencia encouraged the Spanish club to write a moving message in X, calling him “one of the most beloved coaches in the history of Valencia CF” and wishing him the very best.

Another former club, Napoli, took it to their social media account to thank Ranieri while calling him “a true professional and a man of such noble values.”