Simone Inzaghi

Simone Inzaghi (born 5 April 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player.

He is the head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan.

The younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, Simone played as a striker for a host of clubs during his professional career, including Piacenza and Lazio.

Inzaghi started playing professionally in 1993 with hometown club Piacenza, although he did not get to feature in any matches with the first team in that season.

The following year, he was loaned out to third division side Carpi; his first goal arrived in 1995–96, whilst at the service of Novara in the fourth level.

After two more loan stints, at Lumezzane and Brescello, Inzaghi returned to Piacenza for the 1998–99 Serie A season, which would be his first in the top-flight of Italian football.

He scored 15 goals in 30 matches and secured a transfer to Lazio.

He remained at the Roman club for more than a decade, winning major honours including a scudetto in the 1999–2000 season, a European Super Cup, four Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana.

Inzaghi earned three caps for Italy in as many years.

Despite stiff competition within a Lazio side packed with quality strikers such as Marcelo Salas and Alen Bokšić, The Rotation policy of manager Sven-Göran Eriksson ensured that Inzaghi would get playing time; he appeared in 22 out of 34 Serie A matches in Lazio's highly successful 1999–2000 season scoring seven goals, as his team went on to complete the domestic Double by winning both the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia.

In the Champions League, as Lazio progressed from both the first and the second group stages to reach the quarter-finals, Inzaghi scored nine goals in eleven games (including four in a single game against Marseille on 14 March 2000, equalling the competition record held by Marco van Basten since 1992).

His first appearance came under Dino Zoff on 29 March 2000, in a 0–2 away loss against Spain in Barcelona.

The following seasons were not so successful, but Inzaghi did help Lazio conquer another Coppa Italia, in 2003–04; in September of that year, he extended his contract until June 2009.

He came on in the 60th minute for Stefano Fiore, partnering his older brother Filippo upfront; he made two more appearances for his country under Giovanni Trapattoni, in a 1–0 win over England in Turin on 15 November later the same year and in another 1–0 win against Romania in Ancona, on 16 November 2003.

Throughout his career, Inzaghi's playing style was compared to that of his older brother Filippo and Paolo Rossi.

Although he was not particularly skilful from a technical standpoint, he was a tall and fast striker with a slender physique, who was mainly known for his eye for goal, ability to play on the edge of the offside trap and clinical finishing inside the penalty area, in particular from close range, due to his opportunism and positional sense.

Following his retirement, Inzaghi remained with Lazio, managing its Allievi and Primavera sides.

Inzaghi spent the latter half of the 2004–05 season with Sampdoria, as part of a six-month player exchange with Fabio Bazzani.

In the Serie A, Inzaghi made his first league appearance of the season in October, coming from the bench and scoring an equaliser two minutes from time to rescue a point against Lecce, in a 1–1 home draw; it was his first Serie A goal since September 2004, but he would only appear in 12 games over two years, choosing to retire in the summer of 2010 at the age of 34.

Inzaghi played three times for Italy, in friendly matches.

He returned to Lazio for the 2005–06 campaign and stayed for the following, with only 12 appearances combined.

The following season, Inzaghi joined Atalanta on loan.

Although he struggled to find his form early on, he managed to play in 19 league matches, mostly as a second-half substitute, but did not find the net.

Inzaghi returned to Lazio in 2008–09, despite not being in the plans of manager Delio Rossi.

A move away did not materialise and Inzaghi made his comeback in a 2–0 Cup win over former team Atalanta; the season would end with Lazio winning the Coppa Italia, Inzaghi's third triumph in this competition, although he did not get to play in the final.

Following his retirement from playing, Inzaghi embarked on a managerial career, initially in Lazio's youth teams before taking charge of the senior side in 2016 and guiding them to a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.

In 2021, he was appointed as manager of Inter Milan, winning a further two Coppa Italia, and three back to back Supercoppa Italiana, as well as reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2023.

As a manager, Inzaghi is known for employing the 3–5–2 formation, being one of several Italian coaches who have led a notable revival of this tactical system.

On 3 April 2016, he was appointed to the senior team on an interim basis following the sacking of Stefano Pioli.

For the 2016–17 season, Inzaghi was originally replaced by Marcelo Bielsa.

However, as the Argentine left his post after less than one week due to undisclosed reasons, he was named as permanent manager.

He guided the team to fifth place in the domestic league as well as the final of the Italian Cup, lost to Juventus; on 7 June 2017, he renewed his contract until 2020.

The 2017–18 campaign started on a high note, as Lazio defeated Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana with a 3–2 result.

They again finished fifth in Serie A, missing out on Champions League qualification on the final matchday after a 2–3 home loss to Internazionale.

The 2018–19 season saw the side win the domestic cup 2–0 over Atalanta, conquering their seventh title overall and automatically qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.

On 22 December 2019, Inzaghi captured his second Supercoppa Italiana title with Lazio, following a 3–1 victory over Juventus.

In the 2019–20 Serie A season, he led Lazio to finish fourth, which earned them the right to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, for the first time since 2007–08.

Lazio managed to reach the round of 16 in the 2020–21 Champions League.

On 27 May 2021, following reports linking him as the next manager of Inter Milan, Lazio confirmed that Inzaghi had officially left the club.

On 3 June 2021, Inzaghi signed a two-year contract as coach of Inter.