Daniele De Rossi set to join SPAL as the new coach

Former Italy and

midfielder

Daniele De Rossi

will take his first steps as a head coach with Serie B team

SPAL

after being selected Roberto Venturato's replacement.

The 39-year-old De Rossi from Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, has signed a deal with the squad until the end of June 2024. De Rossi has left his position as technical assistant to Italy manager

Roberto Mancini

to pursue an independent career in Italy's second division.

SPAL are fourteenth in Serie A and have lost their previous two league matches, resulting in Venturato's dismissal on Sunday. During his 18-year career with Roma's first team, De Rossi made 616 appearances in all competitions and captained the team in 207 games. De Rossi has played more games for the capital giants than all but Francesco Totti.

He also earned 117 international caps for Italy, helping the team win the 2006 World Cup and continuing to play until 2017. He left Roma in 2019 and played briefly for Boca Juniors before making the transition to coaching and joining Mancini in the Azzurri setup.

De Rossi was a member of Mancini's staff when Italy won the postponed Euro 2020 tournament on penalties against

at Wembley Stadium last year.

His transfer to SPAL was approved by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), whose president Gabriele Gravina stated,

"I wish you the best of luck for this new professional adventure.

"In the belief that the experience gained in Club Italia will be very useful to him, I thank him for the commitment and passion with which he has always honoured the blue shirt, giving himself and giving us so much satisfaction."

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