Ajax confirm Nice's Farioli as new head coach

Ajax confirmed the appointment of Francesco Farioli as their new head coach on a three-year contract on Thursday.

Farioli will officially take over from John van ‘t Schip on June 11 following his departure from Nice.

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The Eredivisie side have agreed a reported €1 million ($1.08m) fee with Nice for Farioli to be released from his contract, which was due to end in June 2025.

“I am delighted to be here in Amsterdam, and together with the other staff members, we will dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly,” Farioli said in the team’s statement. “We want to reconnect with the DNA of the club, aiming to bring new energy with a positive way of working and thinking.

“I’m aware that there is a lot of work to do, but we have already begun preparing. We don’t want to waste any time getting ready for the new season and bringing Ajax back to where it belongs.”

The Italian manager, who is Ajax’s first foreign coach since Dane Morten Olsen in 1999, recently completed his first full season at Nice and guided the team to a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1.

Farioli had previously held jobs at Turkish clubs Fatih Karagumruk and Alanyaspor before joining Nice at the start of the 2023-24 season.

He inherits an Ajax side that finished fifth in the Eredivisie — their lowest finish since the 1999-2000 season.

“Francesco is a coach who is passionately engaged in his profession, thinks everything through to the smallest detail, and can effectively convey his thoughts to his team,” Ajax technical director Alex Kroes said. “We became very enthusiastic through the conversations we had with him, but also through the information we had gathered about him beforehand.

“Everything indicates that Francesco is an intelligent man who can interact well with people, which is also a very important part of the job. All in all, we are convinced that he fits in well at Ajax.”