Valencia confirm appointment of Prandelli

(Reuters) - Former Italy manager Cesare Prandelli will take charge of Valencia after agreeing a contract until 2018, the La Liga club confirmed on Saturday. The Italian has been in negotiations with Valencia in the last week and finalised a deal with club president Lay Hoon Chan on Saturday. He will watch Sunday's La Liga game against Atletico Madrid at Mestalla stadium before being presented to the media on Monday, after which he will take his first training session. "I'm very happy to be here in Valencia at a glorious club. I'm looking forward to starting work," Prandelli said. Caretaker manager Voro Gonzalez, who has guided the team to consecutive wins over Alaves and Leganes since temporarily succeeding sacked coach Pako Ayestaran, will take charge against Atletico. Valencia are provisionally 15th in La Liga, with six points from six games. A European Cup winner with Juventus as a player, Prandelli's professional coaching career spans almost two decades since he took charge of Italian club Lecce in 1997. His appointment, Valencia's eighth since parting ways with Unai Emery in 2012, represents a break from the club's recent habit of hiring coaches with limited experience. Ayestaran had just three years' experience as a first-team coach in Mexico and Israel, while Gary Neville, who took charge in December 2015 and was sacked four months later, had never been a first-team coach before. Prandelli's longest club spell was with Fiorentina, between 2005 and 2010, after which he became Italy manager, guiding the team to the Euro 2012 final where they lost 4-0 to Spain. Under him, Italy failed to qualify from their group in the 2014 World Cup and Prandelli resigned immediately after their elimination. He became Galatasaray's manager in July 2014 but was sacked by the Turkish club four months later. (Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Clare Fallon)