Everton owners The Friedkin Group have appointed Gian Piero Gasperini as the new head coach at AS Roma after 9 years at the helm in Bergamo.

Having gone through four different head coaches in 2024 – Jose Mourinho, Daniele De Rossi, Ivan Juric (who, curiously after taking Southampton down, now takes over at Atalanta), and interim boss Claudio Ranieri – Roma’s owners, The Friedkin Group, have now turned to Gasperini.

A club statement said: “Gasperini’s career is defined by its creative tactics, dedication to hard work, and exceptional player development. Both ownership and Claudio Ranieri (who now takes up an executive role at the club) believe Gasperini is the right man for the mission.”

The 67-year-old has signed a 3-year contract at the Stadio Olimpico. TFG appear to be developing a pattern of having trusted experienced men at the helm after their dalliance with rookie coach and former fan favourite as a player, De Rossi, ended swiftly, and later the 73-year-old Ranieri was brought out of retirement to steady the ship last November.

It's tempting to draw parallels with TFG's ownership of Everton, where David Moyes spoke of his task on the occasion of his 62nd birthday in April:

“I don’t want to do a Fergie and I don’t want to be Roy Hodgson. That is not my plan.

“I have two more years left here and I will take my time and see how it goes. I am looking forward to seeing how we can go again and see if I can try and help build it again.

“I look at the way I came in the first time and even following a bit at West Ham, a team near the bottom of the league and we made a great improvement the next year and started to get in and around Europe. I have a wee bit of hope that that is the way I can get it going but I think the big thing for us is to try and get the ship moving in the right direction again.

“It looks as if it is, but we are still introducing new owners, there’ll be new players and that might take a bit of time for us to find our feet.”