A solid striker, Roberto Mancini has left a more significant impression as a manager, writing his name in Man City lore while also leading Inter Milan to three Serie A titles and Italy to Euro 2020.

In a 10-year international career between 1984 and 1994, Mancini made 36 appearances for Italy, tallying four goals in that time.

He spent most of his playing career in Italy before finishing up his career as a loanee at Leicester City after a player-coach role at Lazio was essentially reduced to a coaching job. He spent just six months with the Foxes, but while there was noted as a student of the game, which foreshadowed his successful career as a manager.

The most famous son of the city of Jesi won the Serie A twice as a player at opposite ends of his career, first with Sampdoria in 1991 and then again with Lazio in 2000.

Mancini built his reputation as a coach with Fiorentina and Lazio before guiding Inter to three Serie A titles in a row.

Mancini delivered Manchester City their first top-flight title since 1968, but that brought him little appreciation from the ambitious club owners when he failed to ensure the Citizens a place in the Champions League knockout stages in 2012/13.

He became the coach of the Italy national team in 2018, resurrecting their fortunes after their failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia and leading them to glory at Euro 2020.

Mancini resigned as Italy head coach in August 2023 and was appointed the new manager of the Saudi Arabia national team.

Roberto Mancini and Man City

Manchester City's new owners had decided that Mark Hughes was not the man to whom they would entrust their newly inflated transfer kitty, and Sheikh Mansour and company sought out a coach that could turn money into trophies.

In 2009, Mancini had been out of the game for a year, having left Inter with three Serie A titles in the cabinet.

Mancini had a reputation of something of a cup expert, perfect for a club desperate to bring in silverware. In his first season in charge, Mancini inherited a misfiring group, and despite an upturn in form under the Italian, the Cityzens failed to qualify for the Champions League.

In his first summer transfer window at the club, Mancini splashed the cash to bring in players who would become club legends. David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov and Yaya Toure all came in, as did Germany international Jerome Boateng, who proved less influential than the aforementioned trio.

That second season would see City mount their first real title challenge in decades. Though they slipped off the pace under the pressure of competing in the league, cup and Europa League, Mancini delivered silverware. City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final before a 1-0 win over Stoke City ensured they lifted their first major trophy in 47 years.

Mancini will perhaps best be remembered as the man who ended Manchester City's long wait for a top-flight title. The club made their key signing ahead of the 2011/12 season, bringing in Sergio Aguero for £35million. Mancini also incorporated former Arsenal stars Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri into his team, and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves joined City on a free from Manchester United.

Aguero injected an energy into the final third that transformed City from pretenders to contenders, greatly aided by the creativity of Nasri and David Silva in midfield. City made a massive statement with their 6-1 demolition of rivals United at Old Trafford. As title wins go, City's was as dramatic as it could be; a goa in added time on the final day of the season saw the blue half of Manchester poetically snatch the title from United.

That kind of moment was always going to be tough to follow, and Mancini couldn't coax enough quality out of his star-studded squad to avoid the sack before the end of the 2012/13 season.

Mancini landed on his feet, finding employment before the start of the 2013/14 season in Turkey with Galatasaray.

Titles at Inter

During his playing career, Mancini was not fortunate enough to wind up at one of Italy's established superclubs, but his managerial skills, displayed at Fiorentina and then Lazio, ensured he was summoned to San Siro.

Mancini took the helm at Inter ahead of the 2004/05 season, with the team desperate to end a long wait for a trophy.

The historic Italian club had endured a lean time of it throughout the 1990s despite consistently being near the top; their last title had come in 1989.

Mancini ended that wait by guiding Inter to the Coppa Italia.

They ended their long wait for another Scudetto, not on the field but in the courtroom as Juventus were stripped of their title due to a match-fixing scandal.

The penalties imposed upon rivals Juve, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, would aid Inter's ascension and usher in a period of Nerazzurri dominance in Italy.

Mancini guided Inter to three successive Serie A titles, but that success would raise expectations, and he was unable to coax a significant Champions League run out of his charges.

In May 2008, Mancini was sacked by Inter and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Mancini returned to the club in 2014, but his second coming proved far less successful, and he would not add to the silverware won during his first spell.

During that second spell, Inter were sanctioned under UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations. Mancini spent less than two years at the club and returned an overall win percentage of just 46.75% as opposed to 61.95% in his first reign.

Legendary status at Sampdoria

An influential striker and a long-time servant of the club, Mancini is, without doubt, a Sampdoria legend.

Having made his senior breakthrough at Bologna he moved to Sampdoria in 1982 and would spend 15 years at the club largely being deployed as a deep-lying striker. He made 566 appearances for the club in all competitions.

Mancini formed a legendary strike partnership with fellow Italy international Gianluca Vialli with the pairing nicknamed 'I Gemelli del Gol' or the Goal Twins.

Notably hot-headed, Mancini frequently clashed with team-mates, a trait which he carried into his managerial career.

Mancini became something of an authority figure at Sampdoria, holding more influence than some of the coaches due to his close relationship with the club's president.

He played an important part in helping Sampdoria to what is, to date, their only Serie A title in 1991.

Playing for and managing Italy

After leaving Inter for a second time, Mancini sought pastures new and found them in the manager's post at Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

His time at the club was short and largely uneventful and would end with Mancini leaving to take over the Italian national team.

Italy had hit rock bottom with their humiliating failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. He was handed a two-year deal with an automatic extension to be activated if Mancini could guide Italy to the 2020 European Championship.

Under Mancini, Italy achieved their longest competitive international winning streak. The Azzurri won 11 straight matches under Mancini between 2019 and 2020 before a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the UEFA Nations League brought that run to an end.

Italy lost just twice in the first 27 matches of the Mancini era, and were once again considered to be among Europe's elite teams.

Nevertheless, despite the unbeaten run, Italy were considered outsiders ahead of Euro 2020.

They quickly served notice of their intentions by easing through the group stage with three wins from three, while keeping successive clean sheets.

Austria and Belgium were seen off in the knockout stages before penalties were needed to eliminate Spain in the semi-final.

Spot-kicks were once again needed in the final, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saving two and seeing another hit the post as England were defeat 3-2 following a 1-1 draw. The final also marked Italy's 34th game without defeat.

 

However, Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup – a second straight absence from the tournament for the four-time world champions.

The Azzurri could only manage two third-placed finishes in the Nations League under Mancini.

He resigned from the role in August 2023 and two weeks later became the new manager of the Saudi Arabia national side.

Personal life

Mancini's marriage to Federica has been the subject of tabloid scrutiny, thanks in part to comments made by the Italian manager. However, the couple remain an item, at least on paper, and have two sons and a daughter together.

Both his sons Andrea and Fillipo are professional soccer players, but neither has achieved the heights their famous father did during his playing career.

Reported net worth

Mancini didn't make megabucks during his playing career but has enjoyed some lucrative coaching and consultancy roles that have seen him amass an estimated net worth of $45million.

His annual salary with Saudi Arabia is believed to be worth $27million.