Gennaro Gattuso

Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (Italian pronunciation: [dʒenˈnaːro ɡatˈtuːzo]; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Italy national team. As a player, Gattuso mainly played in the centre as a defensive midfielder, although he was also capable of playing out wide. He initially played for Perugia, Salernitana and Rangers, though he is mostly remembered for his time with AC Milan in Serie A, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2002–03 and 2006–07, the Coppa Italia in 2002–03, and also the Serie A title in 2003–04 and 2010–11. In addition to these titles, he also won two Italian Supercups, two UEFA Supercups, and a FIFA Club World Cup. At international level, Gattuso played for the Italy national football team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Gattuso's talismanic midfield partnership with playmaker Andrea Pirlo, both at club and international level, played a key role in Italy's World Cup victory in 2006, as well as Milan's domestic, European and international successes during the mid-2000s. Despite not being blessed with notable technical skills, Gattuso's pace, strength and work-rate complemented and supported Pirlo's composed, creative playing style. In addition to his ball-winning abilities, Gattuso was renowned for his competitive nature and leadership qualities throughout his career, often wearing the captain's armband for Milan following Paolo Maldini's retirement in 2009. Gattuso's managerial career began as player-coach of his final club, Sion of the Swiss Super League, and he also had short spells in charge of Palermo and OFI. In June 2016, he led Pisa to Serie B promotion. He later coached both the youth side and the first team of his former club Milan between 2017 and 2019, before being appointed as manager of Napoli later that year, where he won his first title as a manager, the 2019–20 Coppa Italia. He then had a brief managerial stint at Fiorentina, resigning after 22 days due to disagreements with the club's board. He was then appointed manager of Spanish La Liga club Valencia but was sacked in January 2023. In September 2023, Gattuso took charge of French Ligue 1 club Marseille before being sacked in February 2024. He subsequently took over at Croatian club Hajduk Split in June 2024 and left after one season in charge. Following that, he was appointed as coach of the Italian national team in June 2025, but resigned in April 2026, following failure to reach the World Cup for the third time in a row after a play-off loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina.