Gennaro Gattuso on his way to Valencia. Will the boisterous Italian bring European games back to Mestalla?

Valencia will enter the new season with Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso, who Fabrizio Romano says should be officially announced this week. The Italian coach, with experience at AC Milan and Napoli, will try to return the Spanish side to the European cups.

After a disgraceful 13th place finish in the 2020/21 season, Pepe Bordalás, who was supposed to be the leader of the new project, was given a chance on Valencia’s bench. He finished ninth and took the Bats to the Copa del Rey final, only to be incomprehensibly sacked after the season by a phone-crazed owner Peter Lima.

So Gattuso, who is expected to sign a two-year deal at the Estadio Mestalla, is set to return European Cups to Valencia. This will bring him a guaranteed salary of three million euros + bonuses.

The last time he tried a foreign engagement was in 2014, when he spent half a season in the Greek league, where he managed OFI Crete, then took over AC Pisa, after which he was given the opportunity to return to the club with which he experienced his greatest successes as a player. At AC Milan, he first managed the U19s and in the autumn of 2017 he got his chance in the A-team, managing 82 games.

He trained one game less at Napoli, which was also his last engagement. So after a one-year break, he is back and, it must be added, he has a big challenge ahead of him!

In fact, Valencia’s last major success came in the 2018/19 season, when they finished the league season in 4th place. This was followed by finishing 9th, 13th and now Soler and co. have moved up to 9th again.

Valencia still have a very interesting team where we can find some interesting talents. However, they will need a lot more to go higher. Gattuso, however, has his qualities and above all the respect that could apply to Valencia players.

Source: Fabrizio Romano, Transfermarkt