Cagliari appoint Gianfranco Zola as new manager

A familiar face is returning to the Stadio Sant'Elia.

On Wednesday, Cagliari announced that Gianfranco Zola, who finished off his playing career at the club, will take over as their new manager following the sacking of Zdenek Zeman.

Zola was widely tipped as the favourite to take over at Cagliari, although the names of Walter Zenga and Delio Rossi were also floating around the rumour mill. He spent the final two seasons of his career at the club, helping them achieve promotion from Serie B in 2003-04.

The managing gig will mark the third of Zola's career following a two-year stint at West Ham between 2008 to 2010 and a far more successful time at Watford, who he guided to a third-place finish in last season's Championship before failing to achieve promotion to the Premier League.