Claudio Ranieri lifts lid on why Friedkins hired him at Roma ahead of Everton takeover

Claudio Ranieri has lifted the lid on why prospective Everton owners the Friedkin Group asked him to become Roma’s fourth coach this year. After sacking Jose Mourinho, Daniele De Rossi and then Ivan Juric, the Serie A outfit have convinced the 73-year-old to come out of retirement for a third spell in charge, after previous stints between 2009-11 and then in 2019.

Ranieri, who is a well-known figure in English football having steered 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester City to the first League Championship in their history when they won the Premier League title in 2015/16 while also having spells at Chelsea, Fulham and Watford, flew out to London on Tuesday evening alongside his agent, Pietro Chiodi to meet the Friedkins in person.

After saving Cagliari from relegation to Serie B in May this year, he announced that his time in club football was over, and he would only consider offers from national teams.

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But having accepted the position – the 23rd of his career – Football Italia reports that Ranieri was stopped by journalists from news agency ANSA at the airport on his way back to Rome, and they told him this was “a tough problem to deal with” at the troubled team.

“That’s why they called me,” replied Ranieri with a smile.

The lifelong Roma fan, who also began his playing career with his home city club, then added: “Ready! Here comes the cavalry!”

Legendary Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini has claimed Ranieri is one of a select few characters who can lift the current “depressed environment” at Roma under the Friedkin Group’s stewardship. Roma Press quote him as telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Only Daniele (De Rossi) could reunite that team after Mourinho’s farewell, and now it’s the turn of another Roman and Roma fan.

“It’s an important return, a credible and authoritative figure at all levels. He has credibility with the fans, he was chosen for this reason too.”

“The players have great respect for him. He’s the right man to get the team going again, he’s won a lot abroad and has always done well: there are all the conditions to lift up a depressed environment.

“In these cases you have to talk little and run a lot, it’s the only medicine. When you talk too much, you risk creating problems even with the outside world.

“If Ranieri will have the opportunity to move independently and will have free reign to fully express himself within the club, then everything will be easier, and he will be able to give the boost that Roma needs now.”

Meanwhile, former Roma defender Sebino Nela has also endorsed the decision to bring back Ranieri. One Football cite him as telling Il Tempo: “I think it’s the best solution. I think an interim coach of Ranieri’s calibre could be very useful in a particular moment of the standings, of the team’s performance and also for the Romans.

“Then in May we’ll talk about it again, if the owners decide to bring in another coach, but this seemed the most logical solution to me.”

After previously ending talks back in July, a deal for the Friedkin Group to purchase Farhad Moshiri’s entire 94.1% stake in Everton was announced on September 23.

A joint statement read: “Blue Heaven Holdings and The Friedkin Group confirm that they have reached agreement over the terms of the sale of Blue Heaven Holdings’ majority stake in Everton Football Club. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, including from the Premier League, the Football Association, and the Financial Conduct Authority.”

As reported on Wednesday, sources close to TFG have told the ECHO that their client has maintained an eye on caution throughout this process, but everything is going fine at the moment with no cause for concern and an estimated completion date of mid-December remaining the target.