Mancini to help former club Sampdoria avoid drop to Italy’s third tier

Former Italy coach Roberto Mancini will participate in the effort to rescue Sampdoria, who are languishing 18th in Italian Serie B, club president Matteo Manfredi said on Tuesday. 

Mancini spent most of his playing career at the club. On Monday, two of Mancini’s close associates, Alberico Evani and Attilio Lombardo, who were part of the coaching staff when Italy won the European Championship in 2021, were appointed as Sampdoria’s coach and assistant coach. 

“Roberto is by our side and will certainly help us get back on track. His role isn’t formal; friends shouldn’t always be present, but his presence will certainly be constant and will be felt,” Manfredi told Sky Sport. 

Relegated to Serie B in 2023, the Genoa-based club have not won a game since February 8. With six matches left, they are three points behind Cittadella in 15th, the first non-relegation place. 

The club have had four coaches since last August. 

Sampdoria’s all-time top scorer, Mancini, 60, has been a free agent since leaving his post as Saudi Arabia coach last October after just over a year.

He was part of the Sampdoria team that won the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup (C2) in 1990 and the Italian title in 1991, the only Scudetto in the club’s history, and reached the European Cup final the following season. 

Along with his close friend Gianluca Vialli, who died suddenly in 2023, he formed one of the most prolific scoring duos in Serie A.