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Cape Town - Nantes
manager Claudio Ranieri admits he would readily leave his post at the
Ligue 1 side to take charge of the Italian national team.
The Azzurri need a new coach after Gian Piero Ventura resigned due to his failure to guide to the team to this year's World Cup in Russia.
"Any Italian coach would love to be in charge of the Nazionale," Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
"I have a contract with Nantes for two years and I have not received any messages, so I can't say anything.
"But if I were to be contacted for the Italy job, I'd go to the Nantes president and ask to be released."
Other Italians linked with the job include Carlo Ancelotti, who is unemployed after being sacked by Bayern Munich; current Zenit Saint Petersburg boss Roberto Mancini; and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, whose future was again questioned after Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the Champions League.
"In 14 years, Chelsea have changed coach 10 times, so they do have a tendency to chop and change here," Conte, who managed the national team between 2014 and 2016, said after the match at Stamford Bridge.
"The media also plays on this habit the moment there are negative results. They were already writing headlines about my dismissal after the opening game against Burnley.
"It's no problem for me, in fact I really like pressure. I just hope it doesn't affect the players.
"I said very clearly, I have a contract to 2019. I intend to respect it. After that, anything can happen in football. I am happy at Chelsea, but both parties need to be happy.
"In our line of work, we always have a bag packed. My intention is to remain here, but if something were to change, there would be several different scenarios opening up."
