Napoli appoint Ancelotti after Sarri departure
Following the departure of Maurizio Sarri, former Bayern, PSG and Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is the new boss at Napoli.
Napoli have appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their new head coach on a three-year contract, replacing Maurizio Sarri in the post.
Sarri's departure was confirmed after president Aurelio De Laurentiis said time had run out for the coach to commit his future to the Partenopei, amid links to Chelsea.
"Napoli is pleased to announce that it has defined an agreement with the coach Carlo Ancelotti concerning the technical guidance of the first team for the next three seasons starting from 2018-2019," read a club statement released on Wednesday.
Napoli collected a club-record 91 points but missed out on the Serie A title to Juventus, who won a seventh successive Scudetti.
Ancelotti will be charged with ending Juve's dominance in Italy, Massimiliano Allegri having led the Bianconeri to four consecutive domestic doubles.
The former Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain coach has been out of work since being sacked by Bayern Munich in September.
Sarri, meanwhile, has been strongly linked with a move to another of Ancelotti's former clubs, Chelsea, where he would succeed fellow Italian Antonio Conte, who looks set to leave Stamford Bridge despite delivering the FA Cup.
Ancelotti is one of only two coaches - the other being Liverpool great Bob Paisley - to have won the Champions League on three occasions.
The 58-year-old makes a long-awaited return to Italian football having also been linked with the national team vacancy that was filled by Roberto Mancini earlier in the month.
Ancelotti first won Serie A as a player with Roma, adding a maiden managerial Scudetto with AC Milan in 2003-04, as well as winning a pair of Champions League titles with the Rossoneri.
The Italian then switched to English football, winning the double with Chelsea, before taking charge at Paris Saint-Germain and claiming the Ligue 1 crown in the 2012-13 season.
Ancelotti's third Champions League arrived during his spell at Real Madrid, but a lack of domestic success led to his departure, the coach then succeeding Pep Guardiola at Bayern.
While Ancelotti won the fourth league championship by adding the Bundesliga to his collection, a slow start to his second season, coupled with a 3-0 defeat at PSG in the Champions League, saw him dismissed.