Carlo Ancelotti to return home to Roma? Club legend Francesco Totti urges Real Madrid boss to rejoin Italian giants and hails him as 'the best in the world'

Roma legend Francesco Totti hailed Carlo Ancelotti as the "best manager in the world" and urged the Real Madrid boss to succeed Claudio Ranieri as the head coach of the Serie A side.

Roma are currently stuttering in mid-table in eighth place, nine points behind Juventus, who lie in fourth place. Il Giallorossi have experienced a managerial whirlwind this season, with Ranieri being their third head coach this season following the expulsions of Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric. Things have looked better since the former Leicester City manager's arrival, with Roma winning 14 out of the 25 games since taking over from Juric.

Totti, though, firmly believes that Ranieri would not stay in the Italian capital for another season and mentioned that he would like to see Ancelotti succeed in the position. Ancelotti has expressed his desire to continue at Real Madrid "as long as they keep him", with his current contract expiring at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.

"Ancelotti. But he's not coming anyway," Totti told Antonio Cassano when the Italian asked him which manager he would like to see at Roma on the Viva el Futbol podcast (h/t Calciomercato).

"If a great coach like Ancelotti were to come, he would say: 'Okay, I'll come, but what about the team? If it's like this, I won't come. You have to change something'. The structure, the backbone... Coaches all start from the backbone. [Evan] Ndicka is good, but then you have to see how the coach you hire plays. You wanted the name and I told you.

"If I were to be the technical director, I would call Ancelotti. Let's say that if I were to pick up the phone or someone else it would be different... For me the coach is fundamental, he must be good at putting players on the pitch. But for me he must be the manager, it's not easy to manage champions. You have to be good at managing the environment. Is Ancelotti the best in the world at this? Yes. If you talk to the players they are all in love with him. There must be a reason."

Ancelotti will be keen to rally his troops ahead of an important La Liga fixture on Sunday, March 9, when they take on Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos slipped to third position in the league following their 2-1 loss to Real Betis last weekend and are three points behind leaders Barcelona.