Everton have confirmed the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as their new
manager on a four-and-a-half-year contract. Ancelotti will watch this afternoon’s match against Arsenal from the Goodison Park stands before formally taking up his position on Monday. He arrives in place of Marco Silva, who was sacked earlier this month, and his arrival will be regarded as a significant coup for the club and its majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.

“This is a great club with a rich history and a very passionate fan base,” Ancelotti told Everton’s club website. “There is a clear vision from the owner and the board to deliver success and trophies. That is something that appeals to me as a manager and I am thrilled at the prospect of being able to work with everybody at the club to help make that vision a reality.”

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Ancelotti, whose first match in charge will be the home meeting with Everton on Boxing Day, will take over from interim manager Duncan Ferguson. The former Toffees striker has overseen impressive performances against Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester, and Ancelotti confirmed he will be part of his staff. It is thought his son, Davide, will assist him.

“I have seen from the performances in the last two weeks that the players are capable of so much. The work Duncan has done is a great credit to him,” he said. “Strong organisation, strong discipline and the right motivation are some of the key ingredients in football and I’m pleased that he will be part of my backroom team moving forward.”

Only three weeks have passed since Ancelotti was sacked by Napoli – despite qualifying them for the last 16 of the Champions League - and his
quick return to top-level football is the latest move in the 60-year-old’s
long and successful career. Ancelotti has won the Champions League twice
with Juventus and on a further occasion with Real Madrid, while he has won
Serie A with AC Milan, the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and Ligue 1 with
Paris Saint-Germain.

This will Ancelotti’s second stint with a Premier League club. His arrival
at Chelsea in 2009 led to the club’s first domestic “double” in the 2009-10
season. His final game, coincidentally, came at Goodison Park on 22 May
2011 after the club finished as runners-up in his second season.

Marcel Brands, Everton’s director of football, hailed Ancelotti’s arrival.
“He is one of the finest managers in world football and a proven winner,
having achieved a remarkable level of success in each of Europe’s major
leagues,” Brands said.

“He is the perfect appointment for us. He embraces our vision for the club
and we are sure that his enthusiasm to take the helm at Goodison together
with his tactical abilities and well-renowned man-management will make him successful in this role.

“This was a clear and exciting decision for the board to make. It was a
unanimous choice and one we were all fully united behind throughout. Carlo has proven time and again, he knows how to build a trophy-winning side and we share the excitement of our fans at the prospect of him leading our team in the years ahead. We’re all greatly looking forward to working with him.”

Ancelotti will be joined in the directors’ box by the new Arsenal head coach, Mikel Arteta, who also take on his new role on Sunday.