Franck Ribery’s next connection with Italian football may come from the touchline. The former Fiorentina and Salernitana forward has completed his UEFA Pro Licence at Coverciano, opening the way for a coaching career in Serie A or abroad.
Franck Ribery completes UEFA Pro Licence
SEO Title: Franck Ribery earns UEFA Pro Licence and targets coaching future
SEO Description: Former Fiorentina and Salernitana winger Franck Ribery has completed his UEFA Pro Licence at Coverciano and outlined a coaching vision based on speed, beauty and imagination.
- Ribery, born in 1983, first obtained his B Licence and UEFA A Licence before completing the top-level UEFA Pro course in Italy.
- His Coverciano dissertation was titled The Football I Want: Between Tradition and Innovation, the Search for Speed.
- The former France international used the French term “allure” to describe the centre of his prospective football: a word he sees as covering not only charm, but also pace and elegance.
- He said he wants his teams to be quick and attractive, capable of drawing supporters in, comparing his ideal football to a finely tailored designer garment.
- Ribery is now prepared to consider a first opportunity as a coach, whether that arrives in Italy or elsewhere.
Italy remains central to Ribery’s story
A return to Serie A would carry particular weight for Ribery. He spent the closing years of his playing career in the division with Fiorentina and Salernitana, while Florence has remained his adopted home after his time in Viola colours.
He received a star’s welcome when he joined Fiorentina in the summer of 2019. He was back at the Stadio Franchi in early September for the club’s centenary celebration, included among the attacking greats associated with Fiorentina alongside Roberto Baggio, Gabriel Batistuta and his former Bayern Munich teammate Luca Toni.
His final Franchi appearance as a Fiorentina player came on 16 May 2021. Since then, Florence has continued to be the city where he has built his private and professional life. Ribery was named Magnifico Messere in 2024 and has remained based there with his partner, football journalist Greta Beccaglia, who recently gave birth to their son.
Ribery is also the father of five children from his previous relationship with Wahiba, whose marriage to the former player ended around five years ago. Beccaglia was the victim of an assault during a live television report outside Empoli’s Castellani Stadium on 27 November 2021, an incident that led to legal proceedings.
A coach shaped by a long playing education
Ribery’s football education stretches across France, Turkey, Germany and Italy. He made 81 appearances for France, scoring 16 goals, and collected major honours during his spells in Turkish and German football.
He believes a coach inevitably carries the lessons of his playing years. In his view, just as an adult is formed by childhood and adolescence, a manager is shaped by what he experienced as a footballer.
His list of former coaches spans some of the game’s most decorated figures, including Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Jupp Heynckes, as well as Italian survival specialists Giuseppe Iachini and Davide Nicola. Ribery does not intend simply to replicate any one of them. His ambition is to take elements from those experiences and develop a distinct identity of his own.
For a player once defined by improvisation and acceleration, the first coaching qualification is not a final destination. It is the start of a new chapter, with Florence still close and the possibility of Serie A waiting somewhere further down the road.
