Al Nasr have confirmed they have reached an agreement with Italian Cesare Prandelli to become their new manager.

Prandelli, who guided the Italy national team to a runner-up finish at the 2012 European Championship, will be formally introduced to the media on Monday night at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai. He replaces Dan Petrescu after the Romanian’s seven-month reign ended last Friday with defeat to Al Wahda in the President’s Cup final.

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■ Cesare Prandelli: Former Italy manager set to replace Dan Petrescu at Al Nasr

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Humaid Al Tayer, the Nasr chairman, told reporters immediately following the match at Zayed Sports City that the deal for Prandelli was 95 per cent complete.

Prandelli, 59, has extensive experience in club football having managed a selection of Italian Serie A clubs including Parma, Roma and Fiorentina. He has also spent time in charge of Turkey’s Galatasaray and, most recently, Spain’s Valencia. He resigned in December after only 10 matches.

Prandelli’s spell with the Italy national team lasted almost four years from 2010 before he resigned after his side were eliminated from the group stage of the 2014 Word Cup. At Euro 2012, Prandelli led Italy to the final, where they were defeated 4-0 by Spain.

Nasr will be seeking an improvement on a turbulent 2016/17 season in which they finished a disappointing sixth in the Arabian Gulf League. The club were significantly affected by the fallout from the Wanderley scandal, with the Brazil-born striker banned for a prolonged period for using a falsified passport.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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