5 players who followed their manager to new clubs

#3 Fabio Capello & Christian Panucci (AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma & Russia)

Fabio Capello and Christian Panucci met several times throughout their careers

A unique entry on this list, the relationship between Fabio Capello and Christian Panucci evolved from manager and player to manager and assistant manager.

The pair first crossed paths when Capello purchased Panucci as a promising young defender for AC Milan in 1993. Aged 20 at the time, Panucci had caught the eye of Capello after an impressive season with Genoa. At the time, Milan was in the midst of their glory years, boasting legendary defenders such as Paulo Maldini, Franco Baresi, and Alessandro Costacurta.

However, Panucci greatly impressed during his first season at the San Siro and became a regular starter for the European giants. The pair enjoyed huge success at Milan, winning two Serie A titles, two Supercoppas, and the Champions League together. In 1996, Capello decided to move on and took over at Real Madrid.

It took only six months for Capello to pursue his former defender, signing Panucci halfway through the 1996/97 season. The arrival of Panucci at the Bernebeau made him the first ever Italian to play in the Spanish league. Capello spent just a single season in the Spanish capital, however, with Panucci in the side he guided Real Madrid to the La Liga title before moving back to Milan.

Panucci suffered from a trigger-happy Real Madrid board changing managers four times during his three years at the club. He moved to Inter Milan, Chelsea on loan, and Monaco before reuniting with Capello again. Meanwhile, the Italian manager had left Milan for the second time and was now managing Roma.

Capello overhauled the Roma squad and won the Serie A title in the 2000/01 season. Building on his success, Capello once again turned to Christian Panucci, providing the defender with an opportunity to settle at one club. Panucci joined Roma for €9.81 million and immediately became the rock in their defense.

While trophies didn't come during the pairs time together at Roma, both became legends at the club and stayed together for three seasons before Capello moved on to Juventus. Panucci would remain at Roma for eight seasons, amassing 226 caps for ‎I Giallorossi.

The story may have ended there, however, in 2012 Fabio Capello was announced as the new manager of Russia as they bid to revamp the team before hosting the World Cup in 2018. Capello invited Panucci, who was keen on becoming a manager, to work as his assistant and both managed the Russian national team to the 2014 World Cup.

Panucci qualified for his Uefa Pro Licence during this time and left the Russian setup after they were eliminated from the World Cup to pursue his own management experiences. He currently manages the Albanian national team while Capello was recently sacked by Jiangsu Suning of China.