Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (Italian pronunciation: [dʒenˈnaːro ɡatˈtuːzo]; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Lazio.
As a player, Gattuso mainly played in the centre as a defensive midfielder, although he was also capable of playing out wide. He initially played for Perugia, Salernitana and Rangers, though he is mostly remembered for his time with AC Milan in Serie A, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2002–03 and 2006–07, the Coppa Italia in 2002–03, and also the Serie A title in 2003–04 and 2010–11. In addition to these titles, he also won two Italian Supercups, two UEFA Supercups, and a FIFA Club World Cup. At international level, Gattuso played for the Italy national football team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Gattuso's talismanic midfield partnership with playmaker Andrea Pirlo, both at club and international level, played a key role in Italy's World Cup victory in 2006, as well as Milan's domestic, European and international successes during the mid-2000s. Despite not being blessed with notable technical skills, Gattuso's pace, strength and work-rate complemented and supported Pirlo's composed, creative playing style. In addition to his ball-winning abilities, Gattuso was renowned for his competitive nature and leadership qualities throughout his career, often wearing the captain's armband for Milan following Paolo Maldini's retirement in 2009.
Gattuso's managerial career began as player-coach of his final club, Sion of the Swiss Super League, and he also had short spells in charge of Palermo and OFI. In June 2016, he led Pisa to Serie B promotion. He later coached both the youth side and the first team of his former club Milan between 2017 and 2019, before being appointed as manager of Napoli later that year, where he won his first title as a manager, the 2019–20 Coppa Italia. He then had a brief managerial stint at Fiorentina, resigning after 22 days due to disagreements with the club's board. He was then appointed manager of Spanish La Liga club Valencia but was sacked in January 2023. In September 2023, Gattuso took charge of French Ligue 1 club Marseille before being sacked in February 2024. He subsequently took over at Croatian club Hajduk Split in June 2024 and left after one season in charge. Following that, he was appointed as coach of the Italian national team in June 2025, but resigned in April 2026, following failure to reach the World Cup for the third time in a row after a play-off loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gattuso was born in Corigliano Calabro, Italy. He started his career with Umbrian side Perugia, but transferred in July 1997, at the age of 19, to the Scottish team Rangers. The move was controversial; Perugia, unsuccessfully, accused Rangers of signing Gattuso illegally and took their case to FIFA. Gattuso revealed that he initially refused to join Rangers but accepted the move after his father persuaded him to move.
Gattuso made his debut for Rangers, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win against Hearts in the opening game of the season. He scored his first goal for the club against Strasbourg in the first round of the UEFA Cup, as Rangers failed to overcome the deficit, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Gattuso received a red card for the first time in his professional career over a second bookable offence, in a 5–2 win against Hearts on 20 December 1997. He later scored two more goals for the club, including a brace against Hearts on 25 April 1998. This led him to being described as one of the club's "unsung heroes" by its chairman David Murray, who felt that Gattuso had "surpassed expectations by playing so many games aged 19". In the Scottish Cup final, Gattuso played the whole game, as Rangers lost 2–1 against Hearts. At the end of the 1997–98 season, he had made 40 appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Walter Smith, who brought Gattuso to Glasgow, left the club in 1998. Smith's successor, Dick Advocaat, did not favour Gattuso and played him out-of-position as a right-back. Despite this, he was able to score in the UEFA Cup 4–2 win against Beitar Jerusalem. The Italian was sold in October 1998 to then-recently promoted Serie A club Salernitana for £4 million. Prior to joining Salernitana, Gattuso turned down a move to Juventus.
Gattuso was bought by AC Milan for €8 million from Salernitana in the summer of 1999. He made his debut with the club on 15 September 1999, in a 0–0 away draw with Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League; he soon broke into the starting line-up that season, also playing his first Milan-derby match on 24 October 1999, in which he stood out and immediately endeared himself with the Milan fans for the maturity and tenacity he demonstrated when facing Inter striker Ronaldo, who was widely regarded as the best player in the world at the time.
During his time at the club, Gattuso's work-rate and versatility as a ball-winner later allowed Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to place midfield playmaker Andrea Pirlo alongside him in a more creative, attacking position, while Gattuso supported him in a deeper role, as a defensive midfielder; this midfield partnership was pivotal to Milan's domestic and international successes under Ancelotti, which included the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup in 2003, as well as the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana in 2004. Gattuso signed a contract extension with Milan in June 2003 and in October 2004. During this period, Gattuso also reached the 2005 UEFA Champions League final with Milan, only to be defeated by Liverpool on penalties, after initially leading 3–0 at half-time.
Gattuso played his 300th game for the club in a goalless Champions League draw against Lille on 26 September 2006, and he extended his current deal with Milan until 2011 on 1 February 2007. On 23 May 2007, Gattuso won the Champions League for the second time in his career when Milan beat Liverpool 2–1 in the final.
After winning the FIFA Club World Cup, on 27 December 2007, Gattuso trained with his former club Rangers to regain fitness during the Serie A winter break while his wife was visiting family in Scotland over Christmas. The following December, Gattuso suffered a torn Anterior cruciate ligament early on in the 1–0 league win against Catania. Despite the injury, however, Gattuso played the entire 90 minutes before being diagnosed by the club doctors after the match. He underwent surgery to repair the damage on 19 December 2008 in Antwerp, Belgium. He was expected to miss up to six months of action but managed to return to the Milan bench on 10 May against Juventus, a month ahead of schedule.
On 22 August 2009, he made his 400th appearance with Milan in the opening match of the 2009–10 Serie A season against Siena, wearing the captain's armband. It was confirmed by Milan on 14 December 2009 that Gattuso would remain a Milan player until 30 June 2012, after adding one more year to his current contract.
The 2010–11 season with Milan was one of Gattuso's best seasons of his career, and saw him end a three-year goal drought with a left-footed strike from outside the box, which proved to be the decisive goal in a 1–0 victory over Juventus on 5 March 2011. Gattuso later celebrated another goal in a 4–1 victory against Cagliari with a long-distance header that beat the goalkeeper, who was off his line. Gattuso celebrated Milan's 18th Scudetto victory after a scoreless draw against Roma on 7 May.
Gattuso had been experiencing vision problems in early September 2011, a few days before the season kicked off. On 9 September 2011, Gattuso crashed into teammate Alessandro Nesta while playing against Lazio in Milan's opening Serie A game of the 2011–12 season. He was substituted off directly afterward in the 20th minute and diagnosed with a left sixth cranial nerve palsy, resulting in double vision, an injury that could have ended his football career. He later revealed that he had seen teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović in four different positions during the opening stages of the match, and was unable to see Nesta, resulting in the pair's clash.