Rangers held talks with Francesco Farioli before appointing Michael Beale – and the Italian has now been linked with Sunderland.
The Gers seemed to quickly lock in on Beale as their top choice to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst back in November.
Beale did end up making the move from Queens Park Rangers, returning to Ibrox having left alongside Steven Gerrard.
Rangers did though consider other options and one of them was Farioli.
The Daily Record noted that Farioli was keen to hold talks over the Rangers job despite being in work at Alanyaspor at the time.
The Athletic claimed that Rangers did actually hold a meeting with Farioli to discuss the Ibrox hot seat.
Beale was the choice in the end but Rangers may well keep tabs on Farioli moving forward – just in case they end up needing a manager again soon.
Sunderland join race for Francesco Farioli
There now appears to be a real fight on for Farioli’s services.
The Italian left his post as Alanyaspor boss in February after 20 wins, 12 draws and 16 defeats across his 48 games.
Watford have shown a strong interest in making Farioli their new manager for next season.
The Athletic claim that talks have been held with the Hornets looking towards Farioli to replace Chris Wilder this summer.
Watford now face a battle though as Fabrizio Romano claims that Sunderland want Farioli.
Romano claims that Farioli is top of Sunderland’s list for next season and the Black Cats fancy luring him to Wearside.
That’s a strange rumour; Tony Mowbray has done a fine job as Sunderland boss this season having replaced Alex Neil earlier in the campaign.
Sunderland now sit sixth in the Championship table, meaning they currently hold the final playoff spot.
Few Black Cats fans would really say that Mowbray needs to go, so this interest in Farioli seems very strange.
Rangers won’t exactly feel like they have missed out on a star manager in Farioli right now, but they could soon see him take a first step into English football very soon.
