CdS: Blanc's Agents Make Contact With Roma

Just this morning, I mentioned how, in all my years here, we've never covered a managerial search with such fervor. From the dual resignation/sacking of Eusebio Di Francesco and Monchi to the romantic return of Claudio Ranieri to the intensity of the Champions League chase (not to mention the fallout should they miss) to the incessant Qatari takeover rumors, the noise around Roma's managerial search has never been quite as loud while the stakes seem extreme, even by Roma's always dramatic standards.

So, into this mess let's throw another name, Laurent Blanc. The 53-year-old former defender turned manager has been on the outside looking in on Europe's managerial cavalcade for the past two years, having last managed PSG for a three-year stretch between 2013 and 2016, one in which he won the league every single year, not to mention the Coupe de France on two occasions.

While PSG's trophy cabinet was jammed with domestic silverware aplenty during Blanc's tenure, his failure to win the Champions League was ultimately his undoing as he was shown the door in the summer of 2016, reportedly with a €22 million severance burning a hole in his pocket.

As we all know, two years is an eternity in modern football, and it appears as though Blanc has the itch to manage again.

According to the CdS, Blanc's agents/entourage were at the Olimpico yesterday during Roma's 2-0 defeat over Juventus, presumably to make inroads with Roma about their impending managerial vacancy, an approach that was apparently rebuffed.

Blanc's four Ligue 1 titles and three manager of the year awards were apparently not enough to impress Roma, who didn't exactly welcome Blanc's advances, preferring to focus on the increasingly long odds of signing Gian Piero Gasperini or Maurizio Sarri.

With Conte's flatout rejection, Jose Mourinho's mysteriousness, and Gasperini and Sarri likely to remain in their current posts, I'm not sure Roma are in position to reject someone as qualified as Blanc, but they may have done just that.

Even by their own absurd standards, Roma are a mess right now and I have no idea how this will end.