Well, it only took four days, but Roma finally and officially announced the sacking of Rudi Garcia, who will be replaced with Luciano Spalletti later this afternoon.
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Spalletti, who coached Roma between 2005 and 2009, wrote on his Facebook page late on Tuesday: “I’ll finish what I’ve started!” and posted a photo of himself with Roma captain Francesco Totti.
“We have had positive times together, but we think this is the right moment to change”, Pallotta said. The Frenchman will meet Roma’s Sporting Director Walter Sabatini today, while the club’s CEO Mauro Baldissoni joined up with President James Pallotta in Miami yesterday. Media reports suggested Roma would hire Spalletti to an 18-month contract at 3 million euros ($3.2 million) per season.
Roma said that youth club coach Alberto De Rossi would run Wednesday’s training session.
They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League despite only one win from six Group E games, finishing second behind Barcelona.
Garcia was hired in 2013 and Roma finished runner-up in his first two seasons.
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The news comes as no huge surprise after Roma dropped from top of the table and credible title contenders in Autumn, to fifth spot in the standings following last week’s home draw with Milan. The successful season suddenly went downhill with Roma falling to second place remaining there until the season ended.
