Udinese have officially announced the appointment of Kosta Runjaic as the club’s new head coach, replacing 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, who had taken charge for the final six games of the 2023-24 Serie A season.
This will be the ninth club of Rujanic’s coaching career, which began in Germany back in 2007. Since then, he has had stints with Darmstadt, Duisburg, Kaiserslautern and 1860 Munich, as well as more recent jobs in Poland with Pogoń Szczecin and Legia Warsaw.
Runjaic was in charge of Legia until April of this year, and had helped the club finish second in their Europa Conference League group with Aston Villa and AZ Alkmaar, before going on to be knocked out at the Round of 32 stage.
Though the length of Runjaic’s contract with Udinese has not officially been disclosed, reports suggest that he has been hired on a rolling annual contract.
He will speak to the press for the first time on Tuesday 18 June at 11.00 BST.
Udinese statement in full
“Udinese Calcio is delighted to announce that Kosta Runjaic has been appointed as the new head coach of the Udinese first team for the coming season,” a statement on the club website read.
“Runjaic, who began his coaching career in Germany, has expressed a modern, high-tempo, attack-minded brand of football while blooding talented youngsters. His excellent communication skills and ability to adapt to the technical and tactical needs of his teams helped him win the Polish Cup and Polish Super Cup during his recent two-year spell at Legia Warsaw.
“The German tactician will now have the chance to prove himself with Udinese on one of the most illustrious football stages, Serie A, in an increasingly globalised game where international expertise is a key quality.
“Runjaic will be officially unveiled to the media at 12:00 CEST on Tuesday 18 June. Prior to that, Udinese’s new sports management team will hold a press conference at 11:00.”
Welcome Mister 🙌⚪️⚫️#ForzaUdinese #AlèUdin #Udinese pic.twitter.com/PpcNvE63cm
— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) June 14, 2024
Expect Cioffi to return before the 10th game of the season 😂