Early years In 1986, he returned to
Perugia, this time as an assistant coach in the youth system. He was then promoted to youth sector chief in 1990 and first-team assistant to head coach Paolo Ammoniaci. In 1992, he went on to join
Lazio, where he served as youth sector chief together with
Giuseppe Dossena and Roberto Ottaviani. In 1994, he was appointed
director of football of
Triestina. In 1998, he left Triestina to become director of football at third division side
Arezzo, with
Serse Cosmi as head coach. Both men left Arezzo in 2000 to join Perugia.
Director of football at Lazio In 2004, Sabatini left Perugia to become director of football at Lazio. He worked for four years at Lazio and was instrumental in signing players such as
Aleksandar Kolarov,
Valon Behrami,
Fernando Muslera,
Stephan Lichtsteiner,
Modibo Diakité,
Ștefan Radu,
Libor Kozák and
Luis Pedro Cavanda.
Director of football at Palermo In 2008, after his contract with Lazio expired, Sabatini went on to fill the same position at
Palermo, penning a two-year contract with the
Rosanero club. He agreed a one-year extension to his contract in May 2010. His most notable signings included
Afriyie Acquah (who was signed as an unknown player at the age of 17),
Abel Hernández,
Josip Iličić (who was discovered during a
UEFA Europa League qualifying game against Slovenian side
Maribor),
Michel Morganella,
Javier Pastore,
Matteo Darmian and
Ezequiel Muñoz. On 2 November 2010, Palermo confirmed Sabatini had resigned from his role as director of football of Palermo due to "strictly personal reasons."
Director of football at Roma In the summer of 2011, Sabatini was hired by
James Pallotta to replace Daniele Prade as
Roma's sporting director. Over the course of three years, he rebuilt Roma and orchestrated the near-complete removal of all of the side's below-average players who carried high wages, previously brought in from the
Franco Sensi era. He has also succeeded in signing
Erik Lamela and
Marquinhos, as well as their sales to
Tottenham Hotspur and
Paris Saint-Germain respectively for a significant profit in 2013. He then utilized the funds to purchase players
Kevin Strootman,
Gervinho,
Morgan De Sanctis,
Radja Nainggolan and
Mehdi Benatia. One year later, all five signings played solid seasons for the club; however, Benatia was later sold to
Bayern Munich for €26 million, double the amount he was initially purchased for from
Udinese. With the funds, Sabatini managed to purchase three additional center-backs in the summer of 2014 and was able to snatch
Juventus's main target in the transfer window,
Juan Iturbe, from
Verona. For his efforts the previous season, Sabatini was awarded the best director of football award for the
2013–14 Serie A season. He was normally known for signing short-term deals, but he agreed upon a three-year extension with Roma in 2014 for the first time. In addition, his main achievements during the spell at
AS Roma, were the acquisitions and subsequent resale, for substantial profits, of
Alisson Becker and
Momo Salah to
Liverpool FC in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Director of football at Inter and Jiangsu (Suning Sports Group) On 10 May 2017, Sabatini was officially announced by
Suning as technical co-ordinator for both of their clubs:
Inter and
Jiangsu Suning. On 28 March 2018, Sabatini resigned as technical co-ordinator at
Inter and
Jiangsu Suning.
Director of Football at Bologna and Montreal Impact On 17 June 2019 Sabatini was appointed director of football/technical director of
Bologna and
Montreal. His departure from Bologna and Montreal was announced on 27 September 2021.
Director of Football at Salernitana On 14 January 2022, Sabatini was appointed director of football/technical director of Serie A team
Salernitana. Hired following a club takeover by entrepreneur
Danilo Iervolino, Sabatini appointed
Davide Nicola and signed more than ten players in the January transfer window in a last-ditched attempt to save the club from relegation. Thanks to a change in form by the end of the season, Salernitana escaped relegation in the season's final game. Despite informal announcements by club owner Iervolino stating his intention to confirm Sabatini, on 2 June 2022, Salernitana formally announced he had parted company with the sporting director due to disagreements with the board.
General Manager at Salernitana On 19 December 2023, Sabatini agreed to return to Salernitana, this time as a general manager in an attempt to change the club's fortunes as they were bottom-placed in the Serie A league table. ==Personal life==