Erik ten Hag is being considered by a European giant just a couple of weeks on from his dismissal from Manchester United – but is not currently thought to be the forerunner amid competition from several other former Premier League names.
Roma are on the lookout for their third manager of the campaign after dispensing with Daniele De Rossi in September and then pulling the trigger on Ivan Juric on Sunday, less than two months into his reign.
Juric oversaw back-to-back league wins after taking the job but had led Roma to just four more points from six games since then, with a 3-2 home defeat to Bologna proving the final straw.
Erik ten Hag shortlisted for Roma job
Corriere dello Sport report that Roma’s owners, the Friedkin Group – currently in the process of taking over at Everton – had ‘made contact’ with both ten Hag and former Brighton and Chelsea boss Graham Potter.
Appointed from Ajax in 2022, Ten Hag departed Manchester United last month after overseeing a poor start to the new Premier League season with just 11 points from their first nine games. Ruben Amorim has since been appointed as his replacement.
However, Corriere later reported that Claudio Ranieri was in ‘pole position’ for the job and that he was set to hold talks with the Friedkin family in London to discuss the role.
If Ranieri were to be appointed, it would be his fourth spell with his boyhood club: he started his player career there and had managerial stints from 2009-2011 and again on a short-term basis in 2019.
The 73-year-old Premier League title winner with Leicester City announced at the end of last season that he was retiring from club management and would only consider offers from international sides.
However, the lure of the club he has supported his whole life may well be too much to resist. Roma currently sit 12th in Serie A with three wins from 12 games. They are just four points above the relegation zone and 12 away from the top four.
Ranieri led Roma on an ultimately unsuccessful title charge during his first managerial stint at the club, going top of the table in April after a 24-game unbeaten run before being pipped to the title by Jose Mourinho’s Inter.
His second stint in the dugout was a short-term measure at the end of the 2018/19 season after Eusebio Di Francesco was dismissed. Roma found form again under Ranieri but finished sixth, three points outside the top four.
