Canavarro Rejects Nigeria Head Coach Position, Claims Only Lautaro in Serie A Could Play for Real Madrid or Manchester City

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, former Ballon d’Or winner and ex-head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande, Tianjin Quanjian, and the Chinese national team, Canavarro admitted that he turned down offers from the Nigerian national team and Iranian clubs because he prefers to coach a Serie A or European team.

“I received invitations from the Nigerian national team and some clubs in Iran,” said Canavarro. “However, I prefer to wait for a Serie A or European club until December. After that, I might start traveling again.”

In 2011, after retiring, Canavarro first became the head coach of Al-Ahli Dubai, then coached Guangzhou Evergrande twice, as well as Al-Nassr Riyadh and Tianjin Quanjian. He also had a brief stint as the head coach of the Chinese national team. In 2022, he returned to Italy to coach Benevento in Serie B but was dismissed due to poor results. In April 2024, he served as an interim manager for Udinese but left at the end of the season. He hopes to continue getting coaching opportunities in Serie A or Europe.

Canavarro also discussed the Ballon d’Or issue, pointing out that he had long predicted that no Italian player would be included in the list of 30 nominees: “I anticipated this after the Euros, it’s fair. However, we shouldn’t tear up this shirt (Italy national team) in despair; we haven’t faced such a crisis in many years. How should we respond? Simply put, we must do what made us successful in the past again. We need to nurture young players seriously, not just fill their heads with tactics.”

In this interview, Canavarro also stated that among the current stars in Serie A, only Inter Milan captain Lautaro “has the potential” to play for top-tier European teams like Real Madrid or Manchester City.