English second division outfit Sunderland are lining up Francesco Farioli as a potential successor to current coach Tony Mowbray ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season.
The 34-year-old Italian is a sought-after property on the managerial market after beginning his career as a head coach in Turkey with Fatih Karagumruk and Alanyaspor between 2021 and 2023.
At the time of his signing for the former, and aged just 31, Farioli was the youngest head coach in any of Europe’s professional leagues.
Before then, Farioli, born in Barga, had added an extensive list of positions across a number of different clubs on his CV and worked as a goalkeeping coach under Roberto De Zerbi at both Benevento and Sassuolo between 2017-20.
Before then, the emerging young coaching talent held positions in Qatar, firstly with the national Under-17 team and then moved onto the Aspire Academy for two years.
In his early 20s, Farioli plied his trade in the lower divisions of the Italian pyramid, starting out with Margine Coperta, before spending four years with Serie D side Fortis Juventus and then spent a further year with Lucchese in Serie C, although has not yet coached individually in Italy’s top flight.
Having resigned from his position with Alanyaspor in January, Farioli is said to be prepared for a new challenge and could join promotion hopefuls Sunderland in the summer, although there is also interest from Portugal in the form of Braga.