LEICESTER CITY have named Claudio Ranieri as their new first-team manager.
Ranieri, a former Chelsea boss, succeeds Nigel Pearson at the Barclays Premier League club.
Pearson was relieved of his duties last month, with the club making a statement at the time which said "fundamental differences in perspective exist between us''.
Ranieri has been out of work since leaving the Greek national side last year and has not been involved in the Premier League since his time at Stamford Bridge more than 10 years ago.
The 63-year-old has agreed a three-year contract at the King Power Stadium and is relishing the opportunity of returning to the English top flight.
He told the club's official website: ''I'm so glad to be here in a club with such a great tradition as Leicester City.
''I have worked at many great clubs, in many top leagues, but since I left Chelsea I have dreamt of another chance to work in the best league in the world again.
''I wish to thank the owner, his son and all the executives of the club for the opportunity they are giving me. Now I've only one way for returning their trust: squeeze all my energies to getting the best results for the team.''
Leicester have scoured Europe for a high-profile replacement for Pearson, considering former Foxes boss Martin O'Neill and Guus Hiddink.
There were reports over the weekend that O'Neill could be set for an emotional return to his old club but it is believed there were issues regarding his exit from the Republic of Ireland post.
Ranieri is vastly experienced and counts Inter Milan, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Roma among his former clubs.
It is this which appealed to Leicester vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who said: ''It is my great pleasure to welcome Claudio Ranieri - a man of remarkable experience and knowledge that will lead us into the next phase of our long-term plan for Leicester City.
"His achievements in the game, his knowledge of English football and his record of successfully coaching some of the world's finest players made him the outstanding candidate for the job and his ambitions for the future reflect our own.
"To have attracted one of the world's elite managers speaks volumes both for the progress Leicester City has made in recent years and for the potential that remains for the Club's long-term development."
Ranieri met the Leicester squad on Monday afternoon and he will oversee his first training session on Tuesday morning - assisted by Craig Shakespeare, Steve Walsh and the existing City backroom team.
He will remain with the group for the remainder of their training camp in Bad Radkersburg, Austria.
The Italian will have the opportunity to see the squad in action for the first time on July 21 when Leicester begin their pre-season friendly schedule with a trip to Lincoln.
The Foxes also have friendly fixtures lined up at Mansfield, Burton, Rotherham and Birmingham, before beginning their Premier League campaign against Sunderland at the King Power Stadium on August 8.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article