Roberto Mancini will stay on as Italy manager despite that World Cup disaster and a reported return to the Premier League with Newcastle United, speaking via the Daily Mail.
Reports linking the former Manchester City and Inter Milan boss with a potential move to St James’ Park certainly must be taken with a pinch of salt .
Only a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle executive Mehrdad Ghoddousi admitted that he would ‘love’ Eddie Howe to become Tyneside’s answer to Sir Alex Ferguson (The Athletic).
Ferguson, you may remember, spent nearly 30 years at the helm of Manchester United. Howe, meanwhile, is less than six months into life in the Newcastle hotseat.
And, while he’s certainly been aided by a couple of inspired January signings, Howe has done very little to suggest that he is not the man to shake one of European football’s sleeping giants from their slumber.
What’s more, Mancini appears to have little interest in a return to English soil.
With a dark cloud hanging over Italian football following that humiliating 1-0 defeat to North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying, Mancini’s refusal to give up the ghost feels like a ray of hope piercing the gloom.
Another World Cup without Italy
“I have talked with the (Italian Football Federation) president and we agree on everything,” explains the 57-year-old, who guided an arguably rather limited Azzuri side to continental glory less than 12 months ago.
“I feel like staying because I am still young. I wanted to win one European Championship and one World Cup. So, for the World Cup, I’ll have to wait a little.
“We will certainly add younger players (to the Italy squad), hoping they can have important experiences at their clubs because this is important. We’ll work on this and we’ll see what the general situation is.
“The squad in these years deserved a lot. It has not been just the Euros but a three-year path with a streak of matches without any defeat and we need to acknowledge that.”
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Thursday’s shock defeat to the minnows of Macedonia was Italy’s first in 60 qualifying games on home soil.
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