By Liam Thomas

1st Dec, 2022 | 6:10pm

Fabrizio Romano reveals Rangers had interest in appointing Francesco Farioli

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Rangers showed an interest in appointing Alanyaspor manager Francesco Farioli before appointing Michael Beale as their head coach.

The Gers will return to Scottish Premiership action on 15 December 2022 against Hibernian in Beale’s first competitive fixture as head coach.

Nevertheless, Romano confessed on the Here We Go podcast that Rangers had “conversations” with Farioli about becoming their new head coach.

“I wanted to reveal something on Francesco Farioli, who is an Italian manager – really young manager, but really talented,” said Romano on the Here We Go podcast.

“Many clubs approached him in the last few months and years in Italy, in Spain, and now also in Scotland.

“Rangers, before appointing Michael Beale, they had conversations with Francesco Farioli. He was in the list at Rangers, he was the second option.”

Different route.

This is actually a bit of a bombshell reveal from Romano, Farioli presents a completely different kind of package to the one Beale brings to Ibrox.

He only has around 18 months of experience as a top-flight manager but is considered to be a savvy tactician who could make it to the top.

Rangers may well have been his breakthrough role and if conversations were had then the Gers hierarchy definitely saw something promising in the young gaffer.

Although, appointing the Italian over Beale would have been a massive risk, especially when you consider the dire straights Giovanni van Bronckhorst left the club in.

The 33-year-old would have been under intense scrutiny and pressure from the go, not something every young manager can deal with successfully.

In a time where Rangers need calm and stability the appointment of Beale seems like the correct decision here, with luck, it can pay off massively.

In other Rangers news, a former Ibrox chief has slammed the current board for their decision to hire Beale.