Journalist Nicolò Schira confirmed this week that Torino's board have contacted Gattuso's representatives directly, with sporting director Gianluca Petrachi having personally advocated for the appointment and club president Urbano Cairo said to be a long-standing admirer.
Tuttosport reported that this is not the first time Torino have considered Gattuso — the club looked at him both before and after former head coach Ivan Juric's spell in the role. Juric, who left Atalanta earlier this season and is without a club, has also been linked with a return to Turin and remains an alternative option.
Gattuso resigned from the Italy national team on April 3 following the country's failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the third consecutive time. Italy lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in the play-off final despite holding a 1-1 draw after extra time. It was an outcome that prompted Gattuso to immediately step down from a role he had taken in June 2025 after replacing Luciano Spalletti.
The 48-year-old has not managed in Serie A since leaving Napoli in 2021. His subsequent career took him to Valencia in La Liga, Marseille in Ligue 1, Hajduk Split in the Croatian Football League and then the Italy post — a wide-ranging but ultimately turbulent sequence of appointments.
Torino are 13th in Serie A under current head coach Roberto D'Aversa, comfortably clear of relegation but without any prospect of European football. The club are looking to reshape their coaching structure this summer and believe Gattuso's experience, personality and Serie A knowledge make him the right profile for a sustained rebuild.
Gattuso is said to want certain sporting guarantees before committing — specifically clarity on transfer strategy and squad planning — before signing what would be his first Serie A contract in five years.