Juventus have appointed former Italy manager Luciano Spalletti as their new head coach.
Spalletti has signed an eight-month deal until the end of the season with an option to extend conditional on qualification for the Champions League.
The 66-year-old replaces Igor Tudor, who was sacked after the Serie A side’s defeat to Lazio on Sunday following an eight-game winless run, leaving the black and whites eighth in the league standings.
Interim boss Massimo Brambilla oversaw a morale-boosting 3-1 victory over Udinese on Wednesday, leapfrogging into seventh place.
Spalletti began his coaching career at the Tuscan club, winning the Serie C Coppa Italia before leading the club to Serie A promotion, establishing himself as one of the most innovative coaches in Italy.
He led Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years in the 2022/23 season before taking over the Italian national team in September 2023.
The Italian helped them qualify for Euro 2024, having missed out on the 2022 World Cup, but they were eliminated by Switzerland in the last 16.
However, he was fired by Italy in June after a World Cup qualifying defeat to Norway, with the Azzurri at risk of missing out on a third consecutive World Cup.
The 66-year-old is an experienced Serie A manager, having coached Udinese, Roma, Inter Milan, Ancona, Venezia, Sampdoria and Empoli during his more than three-decade managerial career.
He also had a spell at Zenit St Petersburg from 2014 to 2019, winning the Russian Premier League twice.
Spalletti faces a tough task ahead as he faces Cremonese away in his first game for the black and whites on Saturday.
His first Champions League game will be a home game against Sporting CP three days later, with Juventus staying 25th in the league phase of the Champions League after losing once and drawing twice in their opening three matches.
