Claudio Ranieri has announced his retirement from club management after successfully helping Cagliari avoid relegation from Serie A.
The 72-year-old has managed 18 club teams and had a brief tenure as the Greece national team coach in a managerial career spanning nearly four decades, beginning in 1986.
Ranieri is best known for leading Leicester City to the Premier League title in the 2015-16 season, where the club started as 5,000-1 underdogs.
Cagliari had already secured their Serie A status before Ranieri’s final match, a 3-2 home defeat to Fiorentina on Thursday.
Speaking before the game, he told Sky Sport Italia:, external “I have finished my career as a club coach.”
Ranieri hinted that he might consider an international coaching position if it interested him.
In his emotional farewell at Cagliari, fans chanted his name before kickoff and gave him a standing ovation. A banner displayed the message, “Eternal gratitude to a great man.”
This season, he solidified his legendary status at Cagliari, a club he first managed in 1988 when they were in Italy’s third tier. Initially taking over a team battling relegation, Ranieri led them to consecutive promotions and then top-flight safety before moving on to manage clubs like Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Inter Milan, and Monaco.
Upon his return in January 2023, Cagliari were 12th in Serie B. Ranieri guided them to promotion through the playoffs, overcoming a two-goal deficit against Parma in the semifinals and winning the final against Bari with a stoppage-time goal in the second leg.
Ranieri has also managed Roma and Valencia twice and in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Spanish club wrote: “One of the most beloved coaches in the history of Valencia CF is retiring. Claudio Ranieri, we wish you the very best. Thank you for everything.”
Another of his former clubs, Napoli, also commented on social media, saying: “Thank you for everything, Ranieri. A true professional and a man of such noble values.”