The man who famously led Chelsea to their first and only ever Champions League crown – Roberto Di Matteo, may be in line to return to England next season. According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Italian is being courted by Newcastle United and West Ham United in the summer.
Di Matteo was most recently in charge of Bundesliga side Schalke but resigned earlier in the week after a disagreement with the management of the club. He famously led his side to a 4-3 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu in this season’s Champions League, even though Schalke ended up losing the tie.
The former Blues boss is no stranger to the Premier League, having spent 6 extremely successful seasons at Stamford Bridge as a player between 1996 and 2002. He also had a stint as manager of West Bromwich Albion, winning promotion for the Baggies from the Championship to the top-flight in 2010.
The best moment of his career though, came in 2012, when, as interim-manager, he led Chelsea to an improbable Champions League victory, beating the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich on the way. He also won the FA Cup that year, and was awarded a new permanent contract at the club. But after a string of poor results and a European exit in the group stages the following year, he was shown the door.
It will be interesting to see if he chooses to return as manager of a side with nowhere near the resources as Chelsea, along with the exclusion of Champions League football. Newcastle have been without a manager since Alan Pardew left for Crystal Palace in January. First-team coach John Carver has been in charge since then, but is unlikely that he will carry on as manager next year.
West Ham, on the other hand, have been left manager-less after Sam Allardyce decided to call it quits at Upton Park. Following a season that started really brightly for the Hammers, Big Sam’s reputation with the fans took a hit after they fell away in the second half of the campaign.
Napoli is also an option for Di Matteo after Rafa Benitez’s departure, while Newcastle’s arch-rivals Sunderland may also have a look-in after Dick Advocaat ruled out a stay.
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