Claudio Ranieri reveals he would’ve ‘gladly exchanged the Leicester City’ Premier League title if it meant winning the Scudetto with his beloved Roma.
The coach announced his retirement after taking Cagliari first to promotion into Serie A and then securing their place in the top flight, at the age of 72.
Ranieri sat down with the Corriere dello Sport to look back at his career and the highlight for anyone would be winning the Premier League with totally unfancied Leicester City in 2015-16.
“When I arrived, the team had only just secured safety in the Premier League. All I did was change the system to 4-4-2, changed the full-backs and put N’Golo Kante in.
“He was the inexhaustible engine of the team, because he pressed, fought hard, pushed forward, defended. At one point I thought he might be capable of both putting in the cross and getting on the end of it to head in during the same move.”
Ranieri reveals Roma regrets
However, when he was asked if he had any regrets in his career, Ranieri had to look very close to home.
“Not winning the Scudetto with my Roma. I can say it today: I would’ve gladly exchanged the Leicester title with a Roma Scudetto.”
He was born and raised a Roma supporter and had two different stints as coach, coming so close to the title during the 2009 to 2011 tenure.
Ranieri returned to the Stadio Olimpico in March 2019 for just 12 games to see out the season.
The final campaign with Cagliari almost didn’t go as planned either, because the veteran coach had handed in his resignation.
“I had magnificent players who worked so hard in training, but they lost their way during the matches, perhaps thinking my career path was enough to guarantee safety. So, after the game with Lazio, I told them I would walk away to shake things up.
“Usually when you say these things in the locker room, everyone stays silent. Instead, they tried to convince me that I was wrong. Leonardo Pavoletti spoke on behalf of everyone when he said: ‘You are going nowhere.’ That was the turning point.”
Arrividerci rometta!