Roberto Mancini, the former coach of the Saudi and Italian national teams, will take over as manager of Qatari club Al Sadd in the coming period, after finally accepting the improved offer presented to him by the club’s officials in recent hours.
Mancini appeared last week at Al Sadd’s AFC Champions League match against Al Ahli, and it was reported that he was very close to coaching the Qatari club before informing officials of his rejection of the offer, preferring to wait for an offer from within Italy that would bring him back to coaching.
According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Al Sadd’s management presented Mancini with a new and improved offer, and the Italian coach could not resist the substantial financial incentive, finally deciding to accept and succeed Felix Sanchez at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
It is said that Mancini’s annual salary could reach €10 million, a figure he could not realistically earn with any Italian club, and perhaps not even in the top five European leagues in general.
Mancini was a candidate to manage Nottingham Forest after the sacking of Ange Postecoglou, but he ultimately failed to reach an agreement with the English club. His name was then mentioned as a possible successor to Igor Tudor at Juventus before the Bianconeri opted to appoint Luciano Spalletti.
Mancini is considered one of the most successful Italian managers of the last two decades, with winning the Premier League title with Manchester City and Euro 2020 with the Italian national team being among his most notable achievements.
