Claudio Ranieri admits he would have ‘gladly exchanged’ Leicester City’s Premier League title for the Scudetto with his beloved Roma. At 72 years old, the coach announced his retirement after leading Cagliari to promotion to Serie A and subsequently secured their spot in the top level. Ranieri sat down with the Corriere dello Sport to reflect on his career, and the pinnacle for everyone would be winning the Premier League with completely unknown Leicester City in 2015-16.
“When I joined, the squad had only recently guaranteed its Premier League safety. All I did was modify the system to 4-4-2, swap the full-backs, and insert N’Golo Kante. “He was the team’s unstoppable engine, since he pressed, fought hard, pushed forward, and defended. At one point, I felt he might be able to put in a cross and then head in on the same move.”
Ranieri expresses Roma regrets. However, when asked if he had any regrets about his career, Ranieri had to think quite close to home. “I didn’t win the Scudetto with my Roma. I can say it now: I would have gladly traded the Leicester title for a Roma Scudetto.” He was a Roma fan from birth and raised, and he served as coach twice, coming close to winning the title between 2009 and 2011. Ranieri returned to the Stadio Olimpico in March 2019 for just 12 games to complete the season.
The final campaign with Cagliari almost didn’t go as planned either, as the veteran coach resigned. “I had magnificent players who worked so hard in training, but they lost their way during the game, possibly believing that my career path was sufficient to ensure their safety. So, following the game against Lazio, I told them I was going to walk away to shake things up.
“Normally, when you say these things in the locker room, everyone remains silent. Instead, they attempted to persuade me that I was incorrect. Leonardo Pavoletti spoke for everyone when he remarked, ‘You are going nowhere.’ “That was the turning point.”
