Torino’s Cairo Breaks Silence On Vagnati Sacking As Petrachi Expectations Set
Cairo wants everyone linked with Torino to now 'focus on the future'.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Updated on 12 December 2025
Urbano Cairo has broken his silence on the shock sacking of Davide Vagnati and explained why Torino have turned back to Gianluca Petrachi to lead a new sporting project.
Torino president Urbano Cairo says decision to sack Davide Vagnati was for ‘personal’ reasons
On Wednesday, Torino stunned the world of Italian football by announcing that Vagnati had been sacked with immediate effect.
Vagnati had been at the helm of Toro’s sporting operations since 2020, overseeing three top-half finishes across his tenure.
However, Torino have struggled this season and now sit just four points above the relegation zone in 16th place.
They led 2-0 at home to Milan last time out, only for Christian Pulisic to score a brace en route to a 3-2 defeat – their sixth consecutive winless match.
Torino have now replaced Vagnati with Petrachi, who returns after originally serving in the role between 2009 and 2019.
Cairo held a press conference on Thursday, during which he spoke about why he decided to make the change.
É online sul nostro canale l’allenamento odierno, svolto alla presenza del Presidente Urbano Cairo e del Direttore Sportivo Gianluca Petrachi 🎥
Il video completo su YouTube 📲
👉 https://t.co/MCk4nGf0I6 pic.twitter.com/tJDHx1BEYN
— Torino Football Club (@TorinoFC_1906) December 10, 2025
“We’ve been on a long journey together with Vagnati, and I thought it was right to make this change,” he said.
“Going into the reasons is relative: I’ll maintain a good personal relationship with Davide, but I made this choice.
“Out of twenty years, three-quarters of my presidency was with Petrachi and Vagnati. That’s what I chose.”
When pressed on why he sacked Vagnati, Cairo replied: “It’s a personal decision, I won’t explain the reason.
“It’s a decision made, now let’s focus on the future.”
Cairo did, however, admit that the summer transfer campaign “has not yet borne the fruits” the club expected.
Urbano Cairo wants ‘energy and desire’ from Gianluca Petrachi
If the Vagnati chapter ended with relatively few clues, Cairo was far clearer about what he expects from Petrachi.
Cairo touched upon their successful first spell together, which brought promotion and European football between 2010 and 2019.
He then called on the returning director to focus on “young players with potential” and to use Torino’s extensive scouting network to unearth value.
Cairo also wants a tight working bond between Petrachi and head coach Marco Baroni as he spoke of the need for a “symbiotic relationship”.
“Remembering those nine and a half years, I expect young players with potential to develop,” said Cairo.
“You need that eye that allows you to identify players with potential.
“Then, he needs to have a symbiotic relationship with Coach Baroni, based on collaboration and harmony.
“And then he needs to convey energy and desire to the team.”
Torino are back in action on Saturday, when they host Cremonese in a 14:00 CET kick-off in Serie A.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte is a sports journalist with over a decade of professional experience in the industry. His main professional expertise is in soccer. Prior to joining FootItalia, he worked for the likes of Sports Mole, TBR Football, the Chelsea Chronicle and numerous other sites, along with having bylines in the likes of the Nottingham Post. He holds degrees in Journalism and International Relations.
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