Juventus put City target Ranieri on wanted list
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Juventus put City target Ranieri on wanted list
Claudio Ranieri is increasingly concerned by delays to his appointment as Manchester City manager and may yet join Juventus instead. England's friendly against Brazil brought him to London yesterday but he also planned talks with City and with representatives of the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is seeking to buy the club. The proposed takeover is in the hands of lawyers and may not go ahead until later this month.
Ranieri will probably steer clear of the job until the club's future ownership is known because he wishes to be certain of the situation in which he would be working. The Italian must be aware that a plan by Shinawatra to acquire a 30% stake in Liverpool three years ago came to nothing. City will have to devise some means of reassuring him soon because it appears he will have other options.
Juventus are tempted to recruit him after the departure of Didier Deschamps, who resigned after leading the team back to Serie A. The Frenchman had become frustrated by his lack of power and was at loggerheads with the director of football, Alessio Secco, a former press officer at the club.
It had been assumed that Marcello Lippi would go back to Juventus but he prefers to stay out of the limelight for a little longer. Prior to his 2006 World Cup triumph with Italy there had been calls for him to stand down, partly because of the bad publicity his son was attracting. Davide Lippi, a key figure at the GEA player agency, goes on trial this month over accusations of "unfair competition through the use of threats and violence."
Considering the protracted nature of legal proceedings in Italy, Juventus, who are preparing a £10m bid for Mohamed Sissoko, cannot be sure how long the case might run and Lippi will apparently not return to work for them until it is over. Meanwhile, Ranieri's stock has soared after he saved Parma from relegation before resigning this week.
The Juventus president, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, now views him as a strong candidate to succeed Deschamps, but no firm offer has yet been made. Ranieri, after his time with Chelsea, does feel drawn to the Premiership and he would be attracted too by the £50m transfer fund available at City if Shinawatra can buy out the chairman, John Wardle, his business partner David Makin and other shareholders. -
Either way, Juventus and Man City are asking for trouble.
Cheers.
CK