Montella · Biography

In the summer of 1999 Roma paid Sampdoria around 50 billion lire for Vincenzo Montella, a striker who had just scored 54 goals in 83 Serie A games for the Genoa club. Born on 18 June 1974 in Pomigliano d'Arco, near Naples, he spent ten years in the capital and won the 2001 Scudetto there. After retiring in 2009 he went into coaching: Roma, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Milan, Sevilla, Adana Demirspor and, from 2023 to 2026, the Turkey national team.

Empoli youth system and a season at Genoa

Montella joined Empoli's academy in 1986 and made his first-team debut in 1990. He played five seasons in Serie C1, making 51 league appearances. Standing 1.72 metres, he relied on pace and clean striking. He was nicknamed “Aeroplanino”, the little airplane, for his size and for the arms-spread celebration that followed his goals. In 1995 he moved to Genoa in Serie B and scored 21 goals in 34 games in a single season, winning the 1995-96 Anglo-Italian Cup.

Sampdoria and the step up to Serie A

Sampdoria signed him in 1996. He made his Serie A debut in Genoa and over three seasons scored 54 goals in 83 league games. That run earned him an Italy call-up in 1999 and the move to Roma the same summer.

A decade at Roma

Under Fabio Capello he shared the attack with Francesco Totti and, from 2000, with Gabriel Batistuta. In 2000-01 Roma won Serie A, the club's third Scudetto, and added the Supercoppa Italiana in 2001. On 10 March 2002 he scored four goals in the derby against Lazio, a 5-1 Roma win. In January 2007 he joined Fulham on loan, scoring 3 goals in 10 Premier League games, and in 2007-08 he returned to Sampdoria on loan. He left Roma in 2009 with 83 goals in 192 league appearances. He was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2013.

With Italy

Montella won 20 caps for Italy between 1999 and 2005 and scored 3 goals: one against South Africa in 2001 and two against England in a 2002 friendly. At Euro 2000 he provided an assist in the group-stage win over Sweden and came off the bench in the final, which Italy lost 2-1 to France. That year he was made a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. At the 2002 World Cup he played once, against Mexico, and had a goal disallowed.

From the Roma dugout to Milan

In February 2011 he took over Roma on an interim basis and guided them to sixth place. He coached Catania in 2011-12 and joined Fiorentina in June 2012, staying three seasons: three straight fourth-place finishes in Serie A, the 2014 Coppa Italia final, lost 3-1 to Napoli, and the 2014-15 Europa League semi-finals. In 2013 he received the Enzo Bearzot Award. After a spell at Sampdoria from November 2015 to June 2016 he moved to Milan, winning the 2016 Supercoppa Italiana against Juventus on penalties and finishing sixth in 2016-17. He was dismissed in November 2017.

Sevilla, Fiorentina and Adana Demirspor

Sevilla appointed him on 28 December 2017. In the Champions League round of 16 his side knocked out Manchester United, drawing 0-0 at home and winning 2-1 at Old Trafford, to reach the club's first Champions League quarter-final, where they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich. Sevilla also reached the 2018 Copa del Rey final, losing 5-0 to Barcelona. He was dismissed on 28 April 2018. He returned to Fiorentina on 10 April 2019 and left on 21 December that year. In September 2021 he moved to Turkey to coach Adana Demirspor: ninth in 2021-22 and fourth in 2022-23, which gave the club its first European qualification. He left in June 2023.

Turkey head coach

The Turkish federation appointed him in September 2023. Turkey won their qualifying group for Euro 2024, and at the finals beat Georgia (3-1) and the Czech Republic (2-1), knocked out Austria in the round of 16 (2-1) and lost to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals (2-1). In the 2024-25 Nations League they won promotion to League A by beating Hungary 6-1 on aggregate. In 2026 World Cup qualifying they finished second behind Spain and came through the play-offs against Romania and Kosovo, both 1-0, the second on 31 March 2026. It was Turkey's first World Cup since 2002. There they lost to Australia (2-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and beat the United States (3-2), finishing bottom of the group. After four straight Nations League defeats, the federation announced his departure on 9 October 2026.