Claudio Ranieri has agreed to become the new coach of Roma, his lawyer announced on Tuesday, hours after Luciano Spalletti left his job as manager of the Serie A heavyweights.
There s an agreement and tomorrow (Wednesday) there ll be a signature, Ranieri s lawyer Mattia Grassani told Italian news agency Ansa.
The contract will be for two years.
Ranieri, 57, was sacked as coach of Roma s rivals Juventus two games prior to the end of last season after a sequence of underwhelming results.
The former Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea coach agreed to join the Giallorossi after a meeting on Tuesday morning with club president Rosella Sensi.
The move to the Stadio Olimpico represents a return to Ranieri s roots.
Born in the Italian capital, he was raised in the Testaccio district and was a regular on the Roma terraces before beginning his playing career at the club in 1973 but leaving after playing just six matches.
He agreed his return to the club a matter of hours after Spalletti announced his decision to step down.
I submitted my resignation and the club accepted it, said Spalletti after a 30-minute meeting with Sensi.
Roma lost 3-1 at home to likely title contenders Juventus on Sunday to leave them bottom of the Serie A table, having lost their opening game of the season 3-2 at Genoa.
Spalletti, 50, joined the club in 2005 from Udinese. His contract was due to expire in 2011.
He initially enjoyed success at the Stadio Olimpico, taking the side to second-placed league finishes in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and back-to-back triumphs in the Italian Cup in 2007 and 2008.
Roma also made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2007 and 2008, but they never recovered from a terrible start to last season and finished the campaign in a disappointing sixth place.
Spalletti is the first coach or manager to quit or be sacked from Italy s top flight this season.
