Francesco Farioli

Francesco Farioli (born 10 April 1989) is an Italian former footballer and professional football manager who is the manager of Eredivisie club Ajax.

Farioli started his managerial career in Turkey with spells at Fatih Karagümrük and Alanyaspor. He then had one season in charge of French club Nice in Ligue 1 before being appointed by Ajax in May 2024.

Career
Farioli studied philosophy and later sports science in university. He began his career in football as a goalkeepers coach with Margine Coperta from 2009 to 2011. He thereafter was the goalkeepers coach at Fortis Juventus, and Lucchese, before moving to Qatar with the Aspire Academy, the Qatar U16s. He was approached by Roberto De Zerbi to return to Italy, and he was the goalkeeper coach with Benevento in the 2017–18 season. He followed De Zerbi to Sassuolo from 2018 to 2020.

Farioli had his first stint as an assistant manager with the Turkish Super League club Alanyaspor for the 2020–21 season, where the team had an impressive start that saw them close to the top of the league. On 21 March 2021, he was appointed the head coach of Fatih Karagümrük, another Turkish Super League club. At 31, he was the youngest football manager in a pro league in Europe at the time of his contract signing. He left Fatih Karagümrük on 12 December 2021.

On 31 December 2021, he joined his former club Alanyaspor once again, but this time as a manager.

On 30 June 2023, he joined French side Nice as manager, signing a two-year contract. In September of that year, he obtained his UEFA Pro license.

On 23 May 2024, he signed a three-year contract with Dutch club Ajax to become their new head coach, thus made him the first ever Italian in their managerial history.