AC Milan dismissed manager Filippo Inzaghi on Tuesday after a disappointing season in which they finished 10th in Serie A and failed to qualify for Europe for the second time in a row.
Former Sampdoria manager Sinisa Mihajlovic has been appointed as the new head coach according to reports.
The 41-year-old had been in charge for one season and was the third coach to be sacked in the last 18 months by the floundering seven-times European champions following Massimiliano Allegri and Clarence Seedorf.
Inzaghi, who spent 10 years at the club as a player, struggled throughout much of a campaign that brought their lowest number of wins since 2001 and his future had long been questioned.
“AC Milan communicate that Filippo Inzaghi has been discharged of his responsibilities as first team coach. The club thank him for his work,” the club said in a statement on their website.
Serbian Mihajlovic, who stepped down as Sampdoria coach earlier this month, has long been among the favourites to take the job.
In what has become a familiar routine in the last few years, Milan’s season was a story of crises, false dawns, injuries and new signings who have failed to settle in.
Fernando Torres came and went, scoring one goal in four months, and forwards Alessio Cerci and Mattia Destro managed four league goals between them after joining in the January transfer window.
Inzaghi suffered the same process as his predecessors Allegri, dismissed in January last year, and Seedorf, who followed him at the end of last season.
Both fell victim to a combination of unrealistically high expectations and a lacklustre squad, and were eventually fired.
Allegri is now with Juventus, who won the Serie A and Coppa Italia double and reached the Champions League final, eliminating Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid on the way.
Inzaghi, who during his playing days was famously described by then Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as having been "born offside", was hugely popular with Milan fans, having spent most of his playing career at the club.
He was handed the role as their youth team coach after ending his playing career three years ago. He played at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, scoring a total of 25 international goals.
Meanwhile Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich signed goalkeeper Sven Ulreich from VfB Stuttgart on a three-year contract on Tuesday, a move that may trigger the departure of Spaniard Pepe Reina.
German international Manuel Neuer remains first choice at the Bavarian club but the arrival of the talented 26-year-old, who had been at Stuttgart since his youth team days, will heat up the competition.
“After many years at Stuttgart I was looking for a new challenge,” Ulreich said in a statement. “Here at Bayern I am at the right place.”
According to media reports, former Liverpool keeper Reina is set to return to Napoli after a year at Bayern.
