Ranieri: Former Leicester City manager top candidate for Guinea job

Veteran Italian manager Claudio Ranieri is the leading candidate to become head coach of Guinea, thereby replacing Paul Put, who was sacked on July 15.

The Guinea Football Federation made the decision to jettison the Belgian following the West Africans’ underwhelming Africa Cup of Nations campaign, which saw them exit in the Round of 16.

Their search for a new boss has led to 17 candidates being shortlisted for the final selection stage.

ZAHUI, IBENGUÉ, DUARTÉ, 3 sélectionneurs connaissant le contexte africain, ayant performé dans leurs sélections respectives, ayant également un caractère assez affirmé et sont capables aussi d’apporter une discipline dont l’équipe en a forcement besoin👊. pic.twitter.com/xp2zHUmwK2

— Saidou Bah (@Saidoubah96) September 6, 2019

Favourite for the role is Ranieri, who famously managed Leicester City to Premier League glory in 2016.

The 67-year-old’s most recent job was with Roma at the backend of last season, where he guided them to six wins in 12 games.

The Italian boss has also had spells with Chelsea, Juventus, Monaco and Fulham in his lengthy managerial career.

His last international job was a forgettable experience with Greece in 2014, which saw him sacked unceremoniously after a home defeat at the hands of Faroe Islands in November of the same year.

Also on the shortlist for the Guinea job are the trio of Florent Ibenge, Francois Zahoui and Paulo Duarte.

Ibenge guided Democratic Republic of the Congo to the 2016 African Nations Championship title and he led the Leopards to the Afcon finals in June, where they exited in the last 16.

Zahoui was coach of the Ivory Coast side that made it to the continental showpiece final in 2012 only to lose at the final hurdle to Zambia on penalties.

Duarte, in his second spell with Burkina Faso, guided the Stallions to a third-place finish at Afcon in 2017 following a 1-0 victory over Ghana.

The interview of the candidates is expected to take place on September 12.