Mancini Responds to the Sampdoria Call: Former Coach Returns After 28 Years to Save the Blucerchiati
April 7, 2025 — Roberto Mancini, the legendary Italian footballer and manager, has answered a desperate plea from his beloved Sampdoria, returning to the club after 28 years to spearhead a rescue mission. The 60-year-old, who last played for the Blucerchiati in 1997, steps into the role of technical director, tasked with steering the Genoa-based side away from the brink of relegation to Serie C—a fate that would mark the club’s lowest ebb since its founding in 1946.
Mancini’s homecoming, confirmed Monday by Sky Italia, comes as Sampdoria languishes in 15th place in Serie B, just six points above the drop zone with 14 matches left in the 2024-25 season. Once a titan of Italian football—claiming the Serie A title in 1991 under Mancini’s on-field leadership—the club has spiraled since its 2023 relegation from the top flight, plagued by financial woes, ownership turmoil, and a string of injuries. “Sampdoria is my life,” Mancini said in a February 2024 Tuttosport interview, a sentiment he’s now putting into action. His appointment follows his October 2024 exit from the Saudi Arabia national team, where he parted ways by mutual consent after a lackluster Asian Cup run.
As a player, Mancini was Sampdoria’s heartbeat, amassing over 550 appearances across 15 seasons, scoring 118 goals, and lifting the Scudetto, four Coppa Italia titles, and the 1990 European Cup Winners’ Cup. His bond with the club deepened off the pitch too—his son Andrea, now Sampdoria’s sporting director, was born in Genoa, and the family has long bled blue, white, red, and black. “Andrea knows football and Sampdoria inside out,” Mancini said last year. “Together, we can be useful.” Now, father and son unite to halt the club’s slide, with Mancini’s role focusing on squad strategy, youth development, and stabilizing the backroom.
The move isn’t a coaching return—Mancini won’t replace current manager Andrea Pirlo, the Italian World Cup winner whose eight wins in 24 games have left fans restless. Instead, Mancini aims to inject “positive energy,” as one X user put it, into a squad trapped in a “terrible psychological cycle.” Posts on X laud his return, with @Xeavi_1 noting, “Over 550 games as a player, now he’s shaping the club’s future!” Sampdoria’s owners, Gestio Capital, who rescued the club from bankruptcy in 2023, see Mancini as the figurehead to rally a fractured fanbase and avoid a catastrophic drop to the third tier.
The timing is precarious. Sampdoria faces a grueling stretch, including a clash with playoff-chasing Venezia on April 12, as Trump’s tariffs roil global markets and Bitcoin dips below $75,000. Mancini’s challenge is steep: bolster a roster hit by injuries, navigate Serie B’s unpredictability, and restore pride to a club that once stared down Barcelona in a 1992 European Cup final. “Anything can happen in Serie B,” he told Tuttosport last year, defending Pirlo’s tenure. Now, it’s on him to prove it.
For the Blucerchiati faithful, Mancini’s return after nearly three decades is a lifeline—a chance to reclaim a legacy he helped forge. Whether he can turn back the clock and save Sampdoria from the abyss remains the question gripping Genoa. As one X post declared, “The goal: don’t get relegated to Serie C.” For Mancini, it’s personal—and the fight starts now.
