Andrea Stramaccioni has admitted that he could have taken the Aston Villa job before Dean Smith arrived in the Midlands while Watford and Sheffield Wednesday have also contacted him in the past, while speaking to Sky Sports.
Back in 2018, Steve Bruce was heading for the exit as vitriol and vegetables rained down from the Villa Park terraces.
While Smith has proved to be an inspired replacement, with the boyhood Villa fanatic not only guiding the Midland giants back to the Premier League but keeping them there too, it is tempting to wonder how different things would have been if they had turned to an Italian tactician instead.
Tuttomercatoweb claimed that the 1982 European champions approached Stramaccioni about taking over from Bruce.
And, two years on, the man himself has now confirmed that those reports were absolutely on the money.
“I was close to Sheffield Wednesday four or five years ago. I was in touch with Aston Villa two years ago,” says Stramaccioni, a man who became Inter Milan boss at just 36 and was most recently seen in Iranian football.
“With respect to the other leagues I think Premier League and Championship are the best in the world. For me the Championship is not a second division, it’s a different first division! I really appreciate English football.”
Stramaccioni lasted just 14 miserable months at Inter with a ninth-place finish meaning the Nerazzuri missed out on European football for the first time in 15 years.
The Rome-born tactician was hardly a success at Udinese either, winning just 12 of his 41 games, although he obviously made a positive impression on the club’s owner, Gino Pozzo.
“I was very close to Watford because you know it’s the same owner as Udinese.”
Given that the trigger-happy Pozzo makes Roman Abramovic look patient, Stramaccioni’s probably didn’t need a forgettable, short-lived spell in charge at Vicarage Road on his already-nomadic CV.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
