Juventus put City target Ranieri on wanted list
Claudio Ranieri is increasingly concerned by delays to his
appointment as Manchester City manager and may yet join Juventus
instead. England's friendly against Brazil brought him to London
yesterday but he also planned talks with City and with
representatives of the former Thai prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, who is seeking to buy the club. The proposed takeover
is in the hands of lawyers and may not go ahead until later this
month.
Ranieri will probably steer clear of the job until the club's
future ownership is known because he wishes to be certain of the
situation in which he would be working. The Italian must be aware
that a plan by Shinawatra to acquire a 30% stake in Liverpool three
years ago came to nothing. City will have to devise some means of
reassuring him soon because it appears he will have other
options.
Juventus are tempted to recruit him after the departure of Didier
Deschamps, who resigned after leading the team back to Serie A. The
Frenchman had become frustrated by his lack of power and was at
loggerheads with the director of football, Alessio Secco, a former
press officer at the club.
It had been assumed that Marcello Lippi would go back to Juventus
but he prefers to stay out of the limelight for a little longer.
Prior to his 2006 World Cup triumph with Italy there had been calls
for him to stand down, partly because of the bad publicity his son
was attracting. Davide Lippi, a key figure at the GEA player
agency, goes on trial this month over accusations of "unfair
competition through the use of threats and violence."
Considering the protracted nature of legal proceedings in Italy,
Juventus, who are preparing a £10m bid for Mohamed Sissoko, cannot
be sure how long the case might run and Lippi will apparently not
return to work for them until it is over. Meanwhile, Ranieri's
stock has soared after he saved Parma from relegation before
resigning this week.
The Juventus president, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, now views him as a
strong candidate to succeed Deschamps, but no firm offer has yet
been made. Ranieri, after his time with Chelsea, does feel drawn to
the Premiership and he would be attracted too by the £50m transfer
fund available at City if Shinawatra can buy out the chairman, John
Wardle, his business partner David Makin and other
shareholders.
