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Genoa surprisingly fired coach Alberto Gilardino on Tuesday and reportedly already have Patrick Vieira lined up to replace him — which could have implications for new forward Mario Balotelli.
Genoa are just a point above the Serie A drop zone having lost half of their league matches. But the news still came as a surprise as Gilardino appeared to have turned things around, picking up four points from the two matches before the international break and the future looking more positive with the team’s injury problems starting to ease.
“Genoa CFC announces that Alberto Gilardino has been relieved of his duties,” the club said in a brief statement.
“The club thanks mister Gilardino for the goals achieved together over the years and wishes him the best in his career.”
Gilardino initially took charge of Genoa on an interim basis in December 2022 but was given the job on a permanent basis following a string of positive results. He steered the team to promotion from Serie B and to an impressive 11th place finish in his first season coaching in the top flight.
However, Genoa struggled at the beginning of this season following the departures of star forwards Mateo Retegui and Albert Guðmundsson and the injuries started mounting up.
That led Genoa to sign Balotelli and it will have to be seen what impact Vieira’s arrival, which has been reported by Sky Sport Italia, will have on the former Italy forward.
Vieira and Balotelli were teammates at Inter Milan and Manchester City but fell out when Vieira was the Nice coach, eventually leading to Balotelli moving to Marseille.
Vieira’s first match in charge would potentially be at home against Cagliari. The teams are level on points in the table.
Vieira parted ways with French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg in July, having previously managed Premier League club Crystal Palace. If confirmed, he would take charge of Italy’s oldest active football team, established in 1893.
The Frenchman began his managerial career with Manchester City’s under-23 team from 2013-2015, before he took over at MLS side New York City FC. He then spent two-and-a-half years at Ligue 1 side Nice before moving to Palace.
During a stellar playing career, Vieira won three Premier League titles with Arsenal and four in Serie A with Inter Milan, as well as the World Cup and European Championship with France.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.