Lazio Has Officially Appointed Igor Tudor As Their New Head Coach Following The Departure Of Maurizio Sarri.
Lazio Has Officially Appointed Igor Tudor As Their New Head Coach Following The Departure Of Maurizio Sarri.
Lazio has officially announced Igor Tudor as their new head coach, succeeding Maurizio Sarri who recently resigned following a string of four consecutive losses. Sarri stepped down the morning after a 2-1 home defeat to Udinese, which compounded earlier losses to Fiorentina, AC Milan, and a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16.
Giovanni Martusciello, Sarri’s former assistant, temporarily took charge for Lazio’s Serie A match against Frosinone, where they ended their losing streak with a 3-2 victory. However, Martusciello’s interim tenure has now concluded, as Lazio has appointed Tudor on a contract until 2025.
In a brief statement on their official website, Lazio stated, “SS Lazio announces that Igor Tudor, starting today, will assume the role of manager of the first team.”
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— S.S.Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) March 18, 2024
It’s understood that Tudor’s contract includes the option for an additional year, and as per club president Claudio Lotito, the 45-year-old declined offers to manage Napoli and Roma before committing to Lazio.
Lotito stated to Il Messaggero – cited by TuttoMercatoWeb – “Sarri suddenly resigned and we tried to convince him to stay. The truth is that it bothers some that we managed to resolve the problem in 24 hours on the first and only appointment. I picked up the phone, met the agents and received the appreciation of Tudor, who had rejected offers from Napoli and Roma.”
Returning to management after nearly a year’s hiatus, Tudor departed Ligue 1 side Marseille at the end of the 2022-23 season. Prior to that, he managed Hellas Verona and served as Andrea Pirlo’s assistant at Juventus.
The Croatian, who earned 55 caps for his country during his playing career, has previously managed Hajduk Split, PAOK, Kardemir Karabukspor, Galatasaray, and Udinese, winning the Croatian Cup with Hajduk Split in the 2012-13 season.
Tudor takes charge of Lazio as they currently sit in ninth place in the Serie A table, trailing Roma in fifth by eight points. His first match at the helm will be at home against Juventus, a club he represented as a player from 1998 to 2007, on Saturday evening.
