Nottingham Forest have been in contact with Roberto Mancini as an option to become their new head coach, according to sources in Italy who were not authorised to speak publicly.
Forest have spoken to the 60-year-old Italian amid their search to replace Ange Postecoglou following his sacking on Saturday.
Postecoglou was dismissed after a 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea, meaning that he failed to win any of his eight games in charge of Forest.
The Australian was subjected to chants of “sacked in the morning” from sections of the City Ground crowd across multiple games during a short tenure.
His replacement will become Forest’s third manager of the campaign, having relieved Nuno Espirito Santo of his duties in September. The Portuguese led Forest to seventh place last season, qualifying for European competition for the first time in 30 years.
Former Everton and Burnley manager Sean Dyche is another candidate for the job and, while nothing has been agreed, has also held talks with Forest.
Mancini gained Premier League experience with Manchester City between 2009 and 2013, leading them to FA Cup glory in 2011 and a maiden Premier League title 12 months later.
City finished second in 2012-13 and Mancini was sacked, with Manuel Pellegrini succeeding him.
Mancini subsequently had a spell at Galatasaray before returning to Italian side Inter in November 2014, where he won three consecutive Serie A crowns between 2006 and 2008.
He left in the summer of 2016 and joined Russian club Zenit for a season, before taking over the Italian national team in 2018.
In his first job at international level, Mancini led Italy to victory at Euro 2020 but failed to reach the 2022 World Cup and left the role in August 2023.
Mancini most recently managed Saudi Arabia, spending 14 months in charge before departing last October.
After Saturday’s loss, Forest are 18th in the top-flight with only one victory from their first eight fixtures. They are next in action against Porto in the Europa League, where they are also winless, on Thursday.
Additional reporting: James Horncastle and Jordan Campbell