Could Everton really swap a 60-something who has been there, done it and won almost everything European football has to offer for a coach who was fired one season into his managerial career?
The Toffees are casting their net far and wide in search of Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement.
And, according to Calciomercato, recently sacked Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo has joined the likes of Paulo Fonseca, Erik ten Hag, Roberto Martinez, Rafa Benitez and Nuno Espirito Santo on a long and varied hit-list.
To say Pirlo’s debut season in the dugout didn’t go to plan would be an understatement.
A Juve legend as a player, the former Italy maestro scrubbed the sheen off his glittering reputation by taking a side that had won the Serie A title in each of the past nine seasons to the depths of fourth place.
Juventus only secured Champions League qualification because Napoli slipped up against Hellas Verona on the final day.
Could Andrea Pirlo and Rabiot reunite at Everton?
Context is required, of course.
And while Pirlo still had a more than enviable squad at his disposal, his was a transitional Juventus side attempting to replace battle-scarred veterans such as Gonzalo Higuain, Blaise Matuidi and Sami Khedira with a smattering of talented but unproven youngsters.
A Champions League place and two domestic cups – perhaps Pirlo didn’t do quite so badly after all given the circumstances?
And the 42-year-old deserves further credit for achieving something his experienced predecessor, Maurizio Sarri, couldn’t.
Pirlo succeeded in coaxing the best out of that most mercurial of midfielders, a man who has been linked on numerous occasions with an Everton side that now appears to be targeting his former Juventus boss too.
Pirlo: Rabiot is the ‘complete player’
“He is a unique midfielder in the world,” Pirlo said of Adrien Rabiot last season, before adding: “He is a complete player.
“I have rarely seen someone so strong physically and technically. He doesn’t even know the potential for improvement he has. We work mentally to make him understand he is a champion.
“He is improving game after game.”
In April, Il Bianconero reported Ancelotti was desperate for Everton to bring £26 million France international Rabiot to Goodison Park.
Ancelotti may be gone now but the chances of Rabiot finally joining Everton are alive as long as Pirlo remains in contention for the Goodison Park job.
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