Mancini quits Zenit

ROBERTO Mancini will leave his job as Zenit St Petersburg coach today ahead of an expected appointment with the Italian national team.

Zenit said in a statement Mancini is leaving “by mutual consent without any compensation payments” after a single, largely unsuccessful, season with the Russian club.

Mancini is expected to take over with Italy after the commissioner of the Italian football federation, Roberto Fabbricini, said earlier this month a move was agreed in principle but details still needed to be resolved.

Italy is trying to recover from the shock of failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 6 decades.

If Mancini does take the job, it could signal a return to the national team for Mario Balotelli. Balotelli, who has not played for Italy since the 2014 World Cup, featured under Mancini at both Inter Milan and Manchester City.

Negotiations with Mancini picked up after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned down the job. Nantes coach Claudio Ranieri had been a secondary candidate.

The Italian federation has said it will announce a coach by May 20. Italy next plays Saudi Arabia in a friendly on May 28, ahead of taking on France and the Netherlands.

Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri is a possible replacement at Zenit, which finished a disappointing fifth in the Russian league, for Mancini, the club’s deputy sporting director Vyacheslav Malafeev told the RIA Novosti news agency.