ROBERTO Mancini is on the brink of agreeing to a massive £77million deal to become Saudi Arabia’s manager, according to reports.
Mancini stepped down as Italy’s boss on August 13th after five years in charge of the Azzurri.
Former Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti has been revealed as his replacement.
During Mancini’s time leading the national team, he won the Euro 2020 and finished third in the Nations League twice.
According to Sky Sports, the 58-year-old is in advanced talks to take over the Saudia Arabia men’s national team ahead of the Asian Cup in January.
The offer is believed to be worth £77m over three years in a deal that would take him up to the 2026 World Cup,.
If the move takes place he is set to bring assistants Andrea Gagliardi and Lele Oriali with him.
Saudi Arabia Under 23 coach Saad Al-Shehri is temporarily in charge of the senior side, who have been without a permanent coach since Herve Renard left in March.
The Gulf state qualified for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups but went out in the group stages on both occasions.
However, they had a memorable 2-1 victory against World Cup winners Argentina last year in the group stage.
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Mancini could become the latest high-profile figure to head to Saudi Arabia.
Players that have made the move to the country include Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, while Neymar has joined Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain.
The former Italian boss has had a lengthy and successful managing career taking charge of Manchester City, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, Galatasaray, and Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
