FA Cup winners Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. The Italian succeeds Guus Hiddink, whose short stint at Stamford Bridge ended after Saturday’s Cup final victory over Everton.
Ancelotti, who has long been linked with the Stamford Bridge post, left AC Milan by mutual consent yesterday.
Former Champions League winner Ancelotti has agreed a three-year contract with the Blues and will officially take charge on July 1st.
A statement on the club’s website, www.chelseafc.com read: “Carlo was the outstanding candidate for the job.
“He has proved over a long period his ability to build teams that challenged for, and have been successful in, major domestic and European competitions.
“He also had a highly successful playing career in those competitions and therefore brings unparalleled all round experience to the job.”
Ancelotti, 50 later this month, twice won the Champions League, in 2003 and 2007, and the Serie A title in 2004 during his eight years in charge at Milan. He has previously coached at Reggiana, Parma and Juventus.
His track record of success dates back to his playing days when he also won two league titles and two European Cups with Milan.
He becomes the fourth Chelsea manager in 21 months following Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Hiddink.
Ancelotti is well-trained in dealing with the whims of multi-millionaire footballers and club owners despite often coming across as shy and reserved.
Working under Chelsea's demanding Russian backer Roman Abramovich will differ little from having flamboyant Italian Prime Minister and Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi as a boss.
His dealings with the unforgiving British press may be trickier to start with, however, given his limited English and nervousness in news conferences.
"No one has said that I must definitely learn English," he said recently. "Anyway, I'll sort the problem out calmly."
He often mumbles even in Italian and his apparent grumpiness can turn into anger when the questions become tough.
At other times his sense of humour shines through and he barely takes any question seriously, making as many jokes as possible.
He is careful with his words though, as he has been throughout the saga of whether he would join Chelsea or not.
Ancelotti repeatedly said he had a year left on his Milan contract and was planning for next season, so not to upset the San Siro hierarchy.
However, he knew there was a chance he would be allowed to leave given Milan's stuttering form in the last two years and he kept Chelsea in the hunt.
Some Rossoneri fans would put the blame for Milan finishing fifth last term and a distant third in Serie A this season firmly at Ancelotti's door.
He can be dogmatic with his tactical systems and a slowness to alter the situation certainly contributed to their failure to really challenge Inter Milan for the Italian title this season.
With a struggling Ronaldinho arriving from Barcelona, he played the Brazilian in a Christmas tree formation alongside Kaka and with compatriot Alexandre Pato up front.
It only worked in patches and when injuries finally allowed him to tweak the system and play two strikers, one of which was Filippo Inzaghi, there was a clear pick-up in form.
