ROBERTO Mancini is reportedly close to a huge £77 million deal with the Saudi Arabia manager.
Mancini resigned as Italy’s coach on August 13 after five years at the helm of the Azzurri.
Former Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti has been his replacement.
While Mancini was in the national team, he won Euro 2020 and twice finished third in the Nations League.
According to Sky Sports, the 58-year-old is in complex negotiations to take charge of Saudi Arabia’s men’s national team ahead of the Asian Cup in January.
The offer is valued at £77 million over three years as part of a deal that would lead to the 2026 World Cup.
If the move materializes, he will bring with him his assistants Andrea Gagliardi and Lele Oriali.
Saudi Arabia’s under-23 coach Saad Al-Shehri is temporarily in charge of the senior team, which has been a permanent coach since Herve Renard’s departure in March.
The Gulf State qualified for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but was always eliminated at the organizational level.
However, they managed a memorable 2-1 win over world champion Argentina last year on stage.
Mancini may be the latest high-profile figure to make a stopover in Saudi Arabia.
The players who have moved to the country are Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, while Neymar arrived at Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain.
The former Italian coach had a long and successful coaching career managing Manchester City, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, Galatasaray and Zenit St. Petersburg.
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