Torino market, Gennaro Gattuso gains momentum: not only Urbano Cairo believes in him
Torino soccer market: Gennaro Gattuso as the new granata coach, replacing Roberto D’Aversa who seems destined to go no further than the role of ferryman that sees him under contract only until the end of the season, seems much more than a mere suggestion. The name of the now former national team’s technical commissioner, burned by Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, is gaining momentum as a concrete hypothesis for the summer. And sponsoring it, in addition to owner Urbano Cairo, are several historical names in the team.
What seemed to be a fantasy market rumor found confirmation on Thursday from a source very close to Torino: ‘Tuttosport’. The Piedmontese newspaper spoke of a full-blown weakness of Cairo for Gattuso, complete with the possibility of a three-year contract to be proposed to the Calabrian coach. Among other things, the sporting director Gianluca Petrachi would also endorse the operation, preferred in the high ranks of the Granata club to an unlikely return of Ivan Juric.
The Gattuso solution, however, seems at the moment not to have warmed the hearts of the Granata fans at all: quite the contrary. Of opposite opinion, however, are Diego Fuser, who grew up in Torino and symbolized the team between 1986 and 1989, and Silvano Benedetti, who wore the same jersey between 1987 and 1992. The former Venaria Reale winger praised “Ringhio” for his charisma and temperament that make him “Turin-like,” while the former Tuscan defender stressed how he “embodies the Toro character.” The famous “granata trembling,” which the two familiar faces of the Comunale in the 1980s evoked at the microphones of ‘TMW Radio’. Too bad that the square, at the moment, seems to be far from agreeing.
Giving further fuel to the debate was the field. In the last season outing played, Torino fell 2-0 at the Bluenergy Stadium against Udinese, in an opaque performance that confirmed the difficulties of a group deprived of key elements such as Zapata, Adams and Ismajli. Deciding the challenge valid for the 35th day of Serie A were Ehizibue, who scored at the end of the first half on Obrador’s mistake, and Kristensen, who took advantage of a corner at the beginning of the second half to double his header. With this result, the Granata remain 13th on 41 points, with nothing more to ask from the league.
A defeat that made the atmosphere around the club even more tense, with Cairo present in the stands of the Bluenergy Stadium and the target of chants of protest from the visiting section. Before, during, and after the match, the Turin fans clamored for him to surrender the club: a pressure that adds to the debate over the bench and photographs a climate of deep impatience in the Turin square.
On the social front, meanwhile, the split among fans over Gattuso’s name has become increasingly clear. If the majority has been critical – with comments such as “Gattuso may be nice … but he is not capable!” or “The most exonerated coach in the game of soccer” – a minority defends his human and character qualities: “Gattuso with his grit and grit I would not see him wrong on the bench,” someone writes, while others emphasize how “he has the right character” for a demanding square like the Granata. It is a debate that faithfully reflects the divisions that have emerged even among former players, and which is unlikely to subside until Cairo definitively dissolves its reservations about the future coach of Toro.
To complete the picture, it should be recalled that Gattuso left the bench of the Italian national team after the dramatic playoff elimination against Bosnia in Zenica, which excluded the Azzurri from the 2026 World Cup for the third consecutive time. A debacle that deeply scarred the Azzurri environment and prompted the Calabrian coach to resign, leaving him effectively free of any commitment and available for a new adventure on the bench as early as next summer.
