Ranieri leaves advisory role at Roma following fallout with Gasperini

Claudio Ranieri has left his senior advisor role at AS Roma, the Serie A club said on Friday, a decision which comes in the wake of a fallout with manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

Two weeks ago before Roma’s win over Pisa, Ranieri gave a pre-match interview where he responded to Gasperini’s criticism of the club’s transfer business, saying that no player was signed without the manager’s approval.

“In the summer we contacted five or six coaches, three of them then didn’t come, and in the end the club made the decision,” Ranieri also said.

Gasperini responded a week later ahead of a game against his previous club Atalanta, saying Ranieri’s words were an incredible surprise and that he had been thrown into a media storm not of his making.

“As we look to the future, our direction is clear. The club is strong, with solid leadership and a defined vision,” a Roma statement said.

“AS Roma will always come first.”

Before the Atalanta game, Gasperini was given a warm welcome by the Roma fans, while the Curva Sud made clear they wanted the focus to return to what happened on the pitch.

‘Enough. Roma comes before everything and everyone’ read one banner while another asked ‘Silent ownership, talkative management. Who is thinking about the good of our Roma?’.

Ranieri began his playing career at Roma and later went on to have three spells as manager of the club, with the 74-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge last season with the club in the bottom half of the table.

He led Roma to a fifth-placed finish, missing out on Champions League football by one point, before accepting the advisory role, but this would appear to be Ranieri’s final farewell to the club closest to his heart.

“The club would like to thank Claudio for his significant contributions to Roma,” the statement said.

“He led the team through a very challenging time and we will always be grateful for his efforts.”

Ranieri’s almost 40-year managerial career has taken him to the likes of Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan among many others, but his greatest triumph came with a fairytale Premier League title win at Leicester City a decade ago.

Ranieri turned down the chance to manage Italy’s national team when offered the job in June after the sacking of Luciano Spalletti to focus on his new role at Roma.

With the position vacant once more following the departure of Gennaro Gattuso, another return from retirement for Ranieri cannot be ruled out.