Sampdoria appoint Montella as head coach

Vincenzo Montella has been appointed as the new Sampdoria head coach, succeeding Walter Zenga.

The Serie A side have completed negotiations with Montella’s former club Fiorentina, where he was still on the payroll despite having been sacked at the end of last season.

Montella, who has also had a spell as interim boss of Roma, guided Fiorentina to three consecutive fourth-place finishes in Serie A during his three years in charge, as well as leading them to a Coppa Italia final and a Europa League semi-final.

He was replaced by Paulo Sousa in the close-season after disagreeing with Fiorentina’s hierarchy over the club’s future direction.

Montella takes over from Zenga, who lasted less than half a season at Sampdoria after replacing Sinisa Mihajlovic at the helm. 

Zenga was removed from his role on Tuesday after winning just one of his last seven Serie A games in a start to the season that also saw Samp suffer an embarrassing loss to Serbian side Vojvodina in the Europa League qualifiers.

Montella, who had two spells with Sampdoria during his playing career, has signed a contract until June 2018 after president Massimo Ferrero revealed a deal was close earlier on Sunday.

The new coach’s first game in charge will be an away game against Udinese next Sunday and he will be unveiled to the media on Monday.