Premier League winner Claudio Ranieri retires from club management, while Olivier Giroud gets set to end France career
- Former Leicester City boss steps away after keeping Cagliari in Serie A, but is still open to coaching at international level
- Giroud, France’s top men’s goal scorer and winner of 2018 World Cup, will call it a day after the European Championship
Premier League winning manager Claudio Ranieri has called time on his career at club level after keeping Cagliari in Serie A, but has left the door open to working with an international side.
Famous for leading Leicester City to a fairy-tale Premier League title in 2015-16, the Italian, 72, performed another “miracle” by avoiding relegation with the Sardinian side.
Ranieri led Cagliari to promotion last season with a winner in the 94th minute of the Serie B play-offs and then unexpectedly kept them up this season.
It was at Cagliari that he made his name as a manager with promotion to Serie A in 1988 and, speaking after clinching survival, he told Sky Italia: “Fate wanted me to finish my career at Cagliari. This is where my club coaching career will end.”
Asked if he was retiring definitely from management, he added: “If I get a call from a national side, not necessarily Italy, I could think about it. But I am closing the door to clubs.”
Ranieri started management in 1986 and won his first major honour in 1996, when he led Fiorentina to the Italian Cup.
He also won the Spanish Cup and Uefa Super Cup with Valencia, as well as the French second tier while at Monaco in 2012-13.
