Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (Italian: [ˈklaudjo raˈnjeːri, -ˈnjɛː-]; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Cagliari. He is best known for winning the 2015–16 Premier League with Leicester City, one of the greatest sporting shocks in history.
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Ranieri with Inter Milan in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Claudio Ranieri | ||
| Date of birth | 20 October 1951 | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cagliari (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1974 | Roma | 6 | (0) |
| 1974–1982 | Catanzaro | 226 | (8) |
| 1982–1984 | Catania | 92 | (1) |
| 1984–1986 | Palermo | 40 | (0) |
| Total | 366 | (9) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1986–1987 | Vigor Lamezia | ||
| 1987–1988 | Puteolana | ||
| 1988–1991 | Cagliari | ||
| 1991–1993 | Napoli | ||
| 1993–1997 | Fiorentina | ||
| 1997–1999 | Valencia | ||
| 1999–2000 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| 2000–2004 | Chelsea | ||
| 2004–2005 | Valencia | ||
| 2007 | Parma | ||
| 2007–2009 | Juventus | ||
| 2009–2011 | Roma | ||
| 2011–2012 | Inter Milan | ||
| 2012–2014 | Monaco | ||
| 2014 | Greece | ||
| 2015–2017 | Leicester City | ||
| 2017–2018 | Nantes | ||
| 2018–2019 | Fulham | ||
| 2019 | Roma | ||
| 2019–2021 | Sampdoria | ||
| 2021–2022 | Watford | ||
| 2023– | Cagliari | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in Italy during the late 1980s, making his name at Cagliari, whom he took from Serie C1 up to Serie A in successive seasons. He subsequently managed Napoli, with which he qualified for the UEFA Cup, only to be dismissed the following season. In 1993, he joined Fiorentina, and immediately led them to Serie A promotion, also winning the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1996, before moving to Spain in 1997, to manage Valencia and then Atlético Madrid. With Valencia, he won a Copa del Rey and an UEFA Intertoto Cup, and helped the club to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
In 2000, Ranieri moved to England to become head coach at Chelsea. His four seasons there saw Chelsea improve their points total season on season. After substantial investment in the squad by new Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in the summer of 2003, Ranieri led the team to finish runners-up in 2004 and reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-final the same season. He was dismissed by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich that May. After an unsuccessful second spell back in Spain with Valencia, he returned to management in Italy in 2007, where he encountered mixed success with spells at Parma, Juventus, Roma and Inter Milan. In 2012, he was hired to manage Ligue 1 team Monaco, who had just finished in the middle of Ligue 2, and earned promotion as champions in his first season, then finished as Ligue 1 runners-up in his second season. This was followed by a foray into international management with the Greece national team, but he was dismissed less than four months later after a 1–0 home defeat against the Faroe Islands in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.
Ranieri returned to England once more in the summer of 2015 as manager of Leicester City. He went on to win the 2015–16 Premier League, after the club had narrowly avoided relegation the season prior, and was named the 2016 Premier League Manager of the Season, and LMA Manager of the Year. He was also awarded the Grand Officer of the Italian Order of Merit and the Enzo Bearzot Award as best Italian manager of the year, as well as the 2016 Best FIFA Men's Coach Award. He was dismissed by the club in February 2017 after a run of poor results. He has subsequently managed Nantes, Fulham, Roma, Sampdoria, and Watford. In June 2023, he won promotion to Serie A with Cagliari after beating Bari 1–2 in the playoffs.