As a footballer, Vanoli did not grow into a star, but he built a fairly prominent career and won several trophies.
In particular, he managed to play in fairly strong clubs.
But more he had a chance to play for the middle teams in the position of the flank defender.
In Serie A, Vanoli made his debut at only 24 years old, reaching the top division with Verona.
However, the club from the north of Italy did not stay in the elite for a long time, after a year it dropped back to Serie B.
But the hard-working footballer himself aroused interest from the leading Italian clubs of that time, including Parma.
The club did not immediately release the player - it was only after a season that Vanoli bought his own transfer and joined Parma.
Despite the fact that he spent only two years in the new team, the most significant achievements of the Italian are associated with it.
The ambitious team led by Alberto Malezani was played by the young Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron.
Together with his stellar team-mates, Vanoli won the Italian Cup and the UEFA Cup, having distinguished himself in the finals of both tournaments, as well as the Italian Super Cup.
By the way, the decisive game of the European Cup with Marseille took place in the capital's Luzhniki Stadium.
After leaving Parma, Vanoli played for Fiorentina for two years, with which he also took the Italian Cup and even scored the decisive goal in the final.
Then he played a season at Bologna and, following the example of Gennaro Gattuso, left for the Scottish Rangers.
However, unlike his compatriot, Paolo did not achieve much success in Britain.
The only thing that the Italian remembered in Glasgow was his curious own goal in the match against Dunfermline Athletic in 2003.
After finishing professional football at the humble Sandra, Vanoli decided to focus on coaching.
Most of Vanoli's career was spent in the Italian national teams.
Starting with an assistant in the U-16 team, the specialist went through all the levels of the youth teams.
In 2013, Paolo led the U-17 team to the Euro final, where Squadra Azzurra lost in a penalty shootout to Russia with Alexander Golovin, Dmitry Barinov and Rifat Zhemaletdinov in the squad.
The pinnacle of his career at the youth level was the silver in Euro 2016 among teams under 19 years old.
Then Vanoli already held the post of chief and worked with the future champions of the continent among adults Nicolo Barella and Manuel Locatelli.
And among the defeated rivals were the Germans and the British.
However, in the decisive match, the young specialist again faced failure.
The Italians lost big to the French with Kilian Mbappé - 0: 4.
One of the players of that national team, Simone Minelli, recalling his work with Vanoli, called the team's hallmarks good physical readiness and interchangeability in positions.
“The defenders must be able to complete the attack, and the forwards, if necessary, plow defensively.
Indeed, at one time, Vanoli, being a defender, knew how to connect well ahead, scored, so he tried to instill a similar skill in our guys.
Vanoli is an excellent tactician, and the football he taught us reminds me of the current style of Atalanta, - quotes Minelli Sport-Express.
After the junior Euro, Vanoli moved to work with the first Italian national team as an assistant to Gian Piero Ventura, where he stayed until the summer of 2017.
In July, he responded to an offer from Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte, whom he had met while studying at the Coverciano coaching school, and in England he became an assistant to an old friend.
Perhaps it was Vanoli's absence from Ventura's coaching staff during the play-offs in November of that year that caused Squadra Azzurra to fail to qualify for the World Cup final for the first time since 1958.
Jobs at Chelsea for Conte and Vanoli ended in July 2018, after which the Italian duo went to Inter Milan, where they helped the Nerazzurri win the Scudetto for the first time in 11 years.
As Vanoli noted after winning the Italian championship, his task was "to monitor the defense and improve the actions of the defense players."
Vanoli's contribution to the championship was significant.
In the 2020/2021 season, Inter conceded the least in Serie A - only 35 goals and suffered only three defeats.
But despite this, the headquarters was forced to complete its work.
Conte took over Tottenham in November this year.
The British media named Vanoli as one of the candidates for his headquarters.
Working in a Moscow club can be the first truly serious challenge in the Italian's independent career.
Some are already comparing Vanoli to Massimo Carrera, who brought the red and white the first championship title in 16 years.
However, the task for the specialist is not easy, because Rui Vitoria left the successor of the red and white in ninth place in the RPL standings.