Roberto Mancini has left Inter Milan, paving the way for Frank de Boer to take over as manager.
Mancini’s relationship with new Inter owners Suning Holdings broke down over the summer and a statement released on Monday morning announced he had left San Siro “by mutual agreement”.
His successor is expected to be former Holland defender De Boer, who left his role as Ajax head coach in May. The 46-year-old was linked with Premier League clubs Everton and Southampton before those vacancies were filled by Ronald Koeman and Claude Puel respectively.
Former Sampdoria and Leicester striker Mancini, who claimed the Scudetto three times during his first tenure as Inter boss, returned to the Serie A club following a successful spell with Manchester City and a brief stint with Turkish giants Galatasaray.
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However, the Nerazzurri finished a distant eighth in 2014-15 and an improvement to fourth the next year was considered a disappointment as Inter had led the standings from Napoli and eventual champions Juventus heading into the winter break.
When Chinese company Suning Holdings bought a majority stake at San Siro in June, Mancini was promised a large transfer budget but only managed to secure one major signing, bringing in Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva from Lazio for 22million euros (£18.7m).
Ever Banega, formerly of Sevilla, has arrived as a free agent while left-back Cristian Ansaldi was a modest purchase from Genoa.
Furthermore, the Nerazzurri have played poorly in pre-season, losing 4-1 to Bayern Munich and then 6-1 to Tottenham in friendly games, and growing mutual frustration between the board, Mancini and a group of rebellious players has precipitated this change of leadership.
A statement published on inter.it read: “Inter would like to place on record its thanks to Roberto for the work carried out with the team since he joined in November 2014.
“Last season the club led Serie A until the Christmas break, ending the season in fourth place and qualifying for the Europa League.
“We thank Roberto for the work and commitment he has shown the club over the past 20 months.”
De Boer could be appointed before Borussia Monchengladbach arrive in Ancona for a warm-up match on Wednesday night, with Celtic providing the opposition in Limerick on Saturday, and he will have plenty of time to sign more players before the Serie A season starts against Chievo on August 21.
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