Sometimes the storylines in Serie A write themselves, and that could well be the case in round one of 2026-27.
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Ignazio Abate will be the new Torino head coach. Sky and other sources confirmed on Monday that the Granata president Urbano Cairo has resolved his doubts and chosen the former Torino player to take over.
Abate won the battle with other names that were in the running such as Alberto Gilardino and Ivan Juric, the former an ex-Milan player and the latter being someone who was coach of Torino for multiple years already.
Immediate reunion
It will be a very special debut as a Serie A coach for the Abate, who will face the Rossoneri in the first round of the season at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. He gets the job after impressing in his time with Ternana and then Juve Stabia in Serie B.
In an interview back in November, Abate admitted that he still feels a strong connection to Milan, the club that he owes a lot to in terms of his playing career and also the beginning of his journey as a coach.
As a reminder, Abate’s Milan Primavera sides reached the semi-final and then final of the UEFA Youth League in consecutive seasons, becoming the flagship Italian youth team in Italy. He left in May 2024 to pursue opportunities coaching professional football.