Esteban Cambiasso worked with Nigel Pearson in the Premier League at Leicester City.
Former Leicester City midfielder Esteban Cambiasso turned down the chance to become Watford’s new manager last week, according to Calciomercato, with another Foxes hero Nigel Pearson eventually being handed the reigns instead.
If former Hull and Derby boss Pearson feels like an uncharacteristically ‘safe’ option for a side famed for thinking outside the box when it comes to managerial appointments, their initial approach for Cambiasso is very much on brand.
The 39-year-old has never had a top level coaching job since announcing his retirement from the game in 2017 after all.
But Cambiasso, who won league titles with Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Olympiakos and speaks three languages fluently, has a wealth of top level experience which should stand him in great stead when his managerial career does indeed take off.
Calciomercato reports that Watford held a meeting with the one-time Argentina playmaker in Milan last week with Cambiasso apparently very surprised to learn of their interest. The report adds that he turned down the job, however, though the reason why remains a mystery.
Perhaps Cambiasso, who won the treble at Inter Milan in 2010 and was described as a ‘phenomenal‘ presence by Jose Mourinho, felt that taking over a club already well adrift at the bottom of the Premier League was simply too much of a challenge for his first ever spell in the dugout.
In a strange twist of fate, Watford have now placed their trust in the acid-tongued Pearson – the man who signed the one-time Champions League winner for Leicester in the summer of 2014.
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