* Ghizzoni has proposed appointing two director generals
* Head of retail Nicastro may get more power than Ermotti
* Ermotti may not like playing second fiddle
MILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The board of Italy's top bank UniCredit meets on Tuesday to decide on a management reshuffle that may leave a question mark over the future of its top investment banker Sergio Ermotti.
The shake-up is the first key decision for new Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni, appointed last month after former boss Alessandro Profumo quit in a row with shareholders.
Ghizzoni has proposed appointing Roberto Nicastro, in charge of UniCredit's vast retail network, and Ermotti, the head of corporate banking, as director generals, sources have told Reuters. But Nicastro may end up having more power than Ermotti under the new structure, Italian newspapers said on Tuesday, a solution that former Merrill Lynch banker Ermotti may not be prepared to accept.
"This would mean starting with two director generals and ending up with only one," a source close to the situation said.
Swiss-born Ermotti joined UniCredit at the end of 2005 after nearly 18 years at Merrill Lynch. He became deputy CEO in 2007 and has been more visible internationally than Nicastro, whom Italian newspapers say enjoys the favour of key Italian shareholders.
Dino De Poli, Chairman of UniCredit shareholder Fondazione Cassamarca, said on Monday he is in favour of a single and strong director general.
(Writing by Lisa Jucca, Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei and Gianluca Semeraro; Editing by David Cowell)