Former Ajax boss De Boer becomes new Inter Milan manager

Oli Fisher
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Frank de Boer has been named new manager of Inter Milan after former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini left the club yesterday.

The 46-year-old Dutchman, who will be unveiled by the Serie A club at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, was approached to become the next Inter boss after Mancini left by mutual consent due to a breakdown in his relationship with the board.

De Boer’s appointment as his successor has now been rubber-stamped, with a statement on Inter’s official website revealing he has signed a three-year contract to guide the Nerazzurri under ambitious new owners Suning Holdings.

In a brief video posted on the club’s Twitter feed on Monday evening the former Holland defender, who left his role as Ajax manager in May, said: “Hello Inter fans, I’m very happy to be here and I hope to see you soon.”

He earlier told reporters waiting for him in the airport: “I hope I can achieve a lot of success here. I’ll see you tomorrow at the press conference!”

De Boer had been linked with Premier League clubs Everton and Southampton before those vacancies were filled by Ronald Koeman and Claude Puel respectively.

Mancini, meanwhile, left San Siro after his relationship with Chinese company Suning Holdings broke down over the summer.

The former Sampdoria and Leicester striker, who claimed the Scudetto three times during his first tenure as Inter boss, returned to Milan following a successful spell with Manchester City and a brief stint with Turkish side Galatasaray.

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 Suning Holdings approached Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir and 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.

De Boer’s first assignment will be leading Inter against Borussia Monchengladbach in Ancona on Wednesday night, with a match against Celtic in Limerick to follow, and the former Barcelona and Rangers player will hope to make some new signings before the Serie A season starts at Chievo on August 21.